M2B7 





Class 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



lii!llli:illlli]|li;iililiiiliJlllltJlii]|||li;:ili^ 



tiiiiiiiiiiii 



pictorial (guide 



TO THE 




VHP Kdii NHA. MAMMOTH C A \' F. . ] 



I'Rammoi:!^ (^aue 

^■itMiBiBiniiUiinaiiiiaiKHii 



PICTORIAL GUIDE 



MAMMOTH CAVE, 



KUBn^TTTJOICY . 



A Complete Historic, Descriptive ^ Scientific Account 

OF THE 

Greatest Subterranean Wonder of the Western World. 



J^. ID. BiisriCEi2.x), 1>/L. ID. 



CINCINNATI, OHIO : 

Press of Geo. P. Houston, 135 Main Street. 



COPYRIGHTED. 



rilHE MAMMOJPH GAVE. 



v^'HE Mammoth Cave is justly considered the 
U most wonderfully picturesque natural phe- 
nomenon; the most extensive and enchanting 
subterranean cavern on the American Continent, 
and perhaps in the whole world. 

The great traveler, close observer and de- 
scriptive writer, Bayard Taylor, says of the 
Mammoth Cave : ''It is the greatest natural 
curiosity that I have ever visited — Niagara not 
excepted ; and he whose expectations are not sat- 
isfied by its marvelous avenues, domes and sparry 
grottoes, must be either a fool or a demi-god." 

The different avenues, grottoes, and commu- 
nicating passages, already explored and known 
to the guides, number 225, and the sum total 
of their combined length exceeds 150 tuiles. 

Many of these avenues are from 20 to 100 
feet in width, and from 5 to 40 feet from floor 
to ceiling. 

Some of the largest and finest have in some 
places a firm, smooth and even floor, affording 
sate and easy passage, while in other places the 
floor is rough, rocky or cavernous and not alto- 
gether free from danger. 3 



4 THE MAMMOrH CAVE. 

Many of the communicating passages are 
low and narrow, and for short distances almost 
impassable, giving no suggestion of the wide and 
lofty halls, impressive domes and indescribable 
wonders to which they lead. 

Since it is practically impossible for every 
tourist to wander through the entire extent of 
the cave, the choicest portions of it have been 
selected and put in order at great expense to 
be shown to visitors. 

Boats must be repaired, bridges renewed, 
stairways and railings inspected and new ones 
constructed annuall}^, for the convenience and 
safety of the tourist. 

The cumbrous materials for all these very 
necessary improvements must be carried 
through tortuous passages and winding gorges 
to the distance of many miles from the entrance, 
involving an incredible amount of physical toil 
and commendable perseverance. 

The improved parts of the cave, generally 
shown to visitors as the most attractive and in- 
teresting parts of it, can not all be seen by the 
tourist in one day, as this would involve a jour- 
ney of more than 25 miles. 

The most sublime portions, which no one 
should fail to see, are shown in two parts — in- 
volving what are known as the Long Route 
and the Short Route. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 5 

That part extending beyond the rivers to a 
point known as Cleopatra's needle, Croghan's 
Hall and the Maelstrom, nine miles from the 
entrance, involving a journey of eighteen miles 
and requiring from nine to twelve hours for its 
completion, is known as the Long Route — the 
transfluvial route. 

Every rod of this long route is full of ob- 
jects of interest capable of imparting valuable 
instruction. So attractive and varied is each new 
feature, and so pure and bracing is the never 
varying atmosphere that fatigue rarely reminds 
the tourist that he is mortal. 

Last October a young bride in company with 
her husband and the writer, with ''Henry" as 
guide, made the long journey of eighteen miles 
in nine hours without once complaining of fatigue. 

A ticket of admission to the cave, including 
guide-fees, light, etc., for the long journey is three 
dollars. 

That part of the cave first discovered nearest 
the entrance and fraught with historic interest, 
lying on both the right and the left side of the 
main cave, always accessible to the tourist 
summer or winter, and, indeed, the most awe- 
inspiring and sublimest portion of the cave is 
known as the Short route — the cisfluvial route. 

The objective point in this route is the Star 
Chamber, less than two miles from the entrance. 



6 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Indeed no part of the Short route Hes at a much 
greater distance from the entrance than does 
the Star Chamber. The whole distance traveled 
in taking the Short route does not exceed seven 
or eight miles, and the time consumed may be 
from four to six hours. The w^ay is much 
smoother and the objects of special interest 
are grander and more impressive. 

A ticket of admission, including guide-fees, 
lights, etc., for the Short journey is tw^o dollars. 

It is recommended on good authority that 
the visitor rest tw^enty-four hours after making 
one journey into the cave before making the 
other, whichever route he may take first. 

If the visitor have both time and means at 
his disposal, we most heartily indorse the sug- 
gestion, on both physical and metaphysical 
grounds. 

The best mental efforts can not be evolved 
while the physical forces are being taxed to their 
utmost. 

To make the two journeys in rapid succession 
and gaze for a moment upon a bewildering 
profusion of diversified and pleasing objects, is 
like srorsrinsf the stomach with a surfeit of rich 
and spicy viands that can not be properly digest- 
ed and therefore can not be assimilated. 

Thought, the gastric juice of the brain, can not 
so quickly extend to each important object its 



THE MAMMOl^H CAVE. 7 

antiseptic influence and so fails to prepare it for 
assimilation. 

Time is necessary for all things. Time is 
perhaps the most important factor combined 
with other agencies to make the comprehending 
of the Mammoth Cave possible. 

The tourist may take first which ever route 
^he may prefer. 

Some take first the Short route, some the 
Long route. Many for want of time in this 
practical business and progressive age, take but 
one route, and so but smell the delicious feast 
which they leave for others to enjoy. 

THE GUIDES. 

An established regulation for the protection 
of the guides is clearly a necessity, as much so 
as is that of taking nourishment or sleep. 

The regular hours for starting into the cave 
:are 9 a. m. and 7 p. m. 

An ample corps of long experienced and com- 
petent guides is alwa3's in readiness. 

The guide who makes the long trip to-day 
Tnakes the short one to-morrow, and thus the 
toil is somewhat equalized. 

Just here it is pertinent to say a few words 
regarding these important and indispensable 
adjuncts to this greatest wonder of the western 
world. 



8 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

We will speak of them in the order of their 
time of service and ot their ages as nearly as 
we can. 

Stephen was the first in the order of time. 
He achieved world-wide reputation as a guide, 
not less than for his daring discoveries and par- 
rot-like mimicry of learned men. He was the 
first to cross the Bottomless Pit and to navigate 
the rivers. He acted as guide to Bayard Taylor, 
Prof Silliman, Dr. Wright and scores of other 
scientists and travelers, the most learned men of 
his time. 

Bayard Taylor immortalized Stephen by 
describing him as minutely as he did any part of 
the great wonder to which Stephen introduced 
him. 

Stephen owed much of his brightness to his 
unique occupation. He was an apt genius, and 
by coming in contact with scholars from every 
country, he had gathered a vocabulary of scien- 
tific terms which he used with telling effect on 
all occasions. This from a colored man in that 
day was considered remarkable. Man}^ who 
heard him supposed that he was thoroughly 
educated, while in fact the only language he 
understood was something like Father Schuyler's 
Volapuek in which all verbs come under one 
conjugation; all rouns under one declention. 

You will see from the following, which w^e 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 9 

copied from a marble slab, that Stephen died 

quite young: 

"STEPHEN BISHOP, 

jfirat (ButDe anO Biplorcr of tbe 

/Bbammotb Cave, 

2)ieD 5une I5tb, 1859, 

(n bis 37tb l])ear/' 

Many early visitors to the Mammoth Cave 
still retain a warm place in their affections for 
the memory of Stephen. 

Next in order came ''Matt'' and ''Nick'' 
Bransford, brothers, and associates of Stephen. 

Both these men were just as competent and 
faithful guides as ever entered the portals of that 
great wonder. 

Matt guided the writer many times through 
the Mammoth Cave twenty-one 3'ears ago, and 
several times many years later. 

We still retain a high estimate of his faithful 
service. His dryest of quaint humor upon 
occasions was all the more enjoyable. Matt 
had a perfect knowledge of the cave, and Avas 
therefore a safe and trustworthy guide, whom 
thousands will remember with a twinge of sad- 
ness, when they here learn for the first time that 
two years ago, Matt ''joined that caravan that 
moves to the realms of shade," and is no more. 
His mantle decended upon the shoulders of his 
son "Henry." 



lO 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



"Nick," the brother of "Matt," is now quite 
aged, and almost superannuated. He still re- 




THE MAMMOTH CAVE. II 

mains around the Cave as one of its fixtures, 
and occasionally does duty as guide, and does 
so very acceptably. 

William comes next. He is an elegant spec- 
men of physical development, just in the noon- 
day of life. William is entitled to the credit 
and honor of the discovery of the Cork wScrew, 
that beautiful, bewildering and spiral passage by 
which it becomes possible to escape the tribula- 
tions of a return passage through Fat-Man's- 
Misery. 

William informs the writer that he was aided 
in the discovery of the Cork Screw by observ- 
ing^ the movements of cave bats. 

In his frequent passings in and out of the 
Cave, he occasionally observed these little verte- 
brates flying with reckless speed and suddenly 
disappearing in a small aperture far above the 
Kentucky Clifl:s, near the Church in the Main Cave. 

Quite as often he saw scores of bats, far 
beyond Fat-Man's Misery, shoot into Great Re- 
lief from some unknown passage, hitherto unex- 
plored by mortal man. 

Profiting by this hint the dauntless William 
hurled himself into the breech, wormed himself 
through the Cork Screw and proclaimed his 
great discovery to the world. 

No one should fail to see the Cork Screvv'. 
It will enable him to both feel and see how tor- 



12 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



tuous a passage may be. If possible, it is more 
tortuous than the crookedest street in Boston. 




THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 1 3 

The practical result of William's discovery 
is that tourists in returning from the long jour- 
ney may pass through the Cork Screw, and so 
shorten the walk and avoid a second passage 
through Fat-Man's-Misery. 

Next in order is the inimitable "Henry" the 
son of "Matt," in whose foot steps he has trod- 
den for more than a score of years, an accepta- 
ble and competent guide, perhaps not second to 
the immortal Stephen. Henry certainly knows 
more about the Cave than Stephen did. He 
has seen more of the Cave. He has come in 
contact w^ith more visitors — scholars and 
scientists from every country. Henry acted as 
guide for the w^riter during his recent explora- 
tions. He is the walking Thesaurus of the 
Cave. He has an ample supply of witty sayings 
and irresistible drollery, coupled wdth the dry 
humor of his father. 

In showing us through the Ball-Room 
twenty-one years ago, "Matt," the worthy father 
of Henry, while poking through the dust Avith 
his cane in search of old corn-cobs, where the 
cattle were fed in 1812 and '14, remarked that 
he ''must bring in some more cobs, to keep the 
relic hunter from carrying off the ox-tracks," 
still preserved in the hardened dirt in this part 
of the cave. 

While passing, last October, through this 



14 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



same part ol' the Cave, Henry told us of the 
;' great meetings he had attended here while a 




THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



15 



boy, and of the powerful sermons he heard 
preached from that rock up there still called the 




l6 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

pulpit. Baptists ? we inquired. " No. Method- 
ists ! Too dry for Baptists," replied the versa- 
tile Henry. 

There are several trustworthy and compe- 
tent white guides who occasionally do duty in 
the busy season, but none of these have 
achieved the notoriety of the colored guides. 

GEOGAPHICAL LOCATION. 

The Mammoth Cave underlies the intersec- 
tion of the 37th parallel North, with the 9th 
meridian West. 

It's well known entrance is found near the 
junction of Hart, Barren, and Edmonson Coun- 
ties in South Central Kentucky, on the South 
side of Green river, 192 feet above the level of 
that stream, and about midway between Nash- 
ville and Louisville, nearly one hundred miles 
from either city. 

The extensive and varied ramifications of 
the Mammoth Cave probably underlie portions 
of the three above named counties. 

MEANS OF ACCESS. 

The great trunk line of travel passing near- 
est this natural wonder is the Louisville and 
Nashville Railroad. 

All its fast trains stop daily at Glasgow junc- 
tion, eight miles from the Cave. Glasgow junc- 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 1 7 

tion and the Mammoth-Cave Hotel are in both 
direct and speedy communication by telephone 
and by railroad. The old stage-coach from 
^' BelTs Tavern" and from Cave City are things 
of the past. We remember them, not only for 
the tortures they inflicted upon us, but for the 
some\vhat tedious novelty of the occasion. 

The public endured them till the genius of 
progress has cured them. 

The Mammoth Cave Hotel is conducted by 
the genial lessee, Mr. W. C. Comstock, and his 
no less genial corps of courteous and competent 
assistants. 

The Hotel building is a primitive structure 
of the southern style of architecture. 

There is something very charming about its 
six hundred feet of wide covered ramblino- ve- 
randa facing the inclosed angle of the building. 

In front of this angle is a pretty lawn 
densely shaded by forest trees of great size. 

It is a delightful spot, sunny and shady by 
turns. Here are drives and walks and the im- 
plements of games amid the finest Calladiums 
we ever saw. The golden rods, the asters 
the astringent diosperos, the crimson fruit of 
the cornus florida, the scarlet leaves of the su- 
mac and the aromatic cedar lend a suspicion of 
their health-giving odors to the pure atmos- 
phere of this health-giving place. The very 



15 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

trees invite to '' Hang there my verse, in wit- 
ness of my love," as did Orlando for his Rosa- 
lind. 

From the tall oaks are suspended swings, 
bearing to and fro with gentle and stately motion 
the fairest forms with well-turned limbs, in the 
gentle zephyr of evening twilight, rendered still 
more charming by the milk-white flood of Ken- 
tucky moonshine. It is a place to teach Bas- 
sanio which casket contains the picture of his 
fair Portia. 

But we grow young again, and this comports 
not with paltry bread and butter, for even now 
is heard the bell calling to tea. 

Immediately on the right of the entrance to 
this rambling old hostelry is the spacious din- 
ing room on the first floor, clean and well kept. 
Flies are scarce and mosquitoes are never seen 
here. Third floor and fourth floor never vex 
the visitor. Far to the right and far to the left, 
gives an air of romance, while it imparts a sense 
of comfort re-enforced by profound sleep near 
mother earth. 

The tables are supplied with a great variety 
of the choicest and best the country or the 
city markets can aftbrd. These are speedily 
and well prepared and attentively served. 

Breakfast over : The ladies arrayed in cave 
costume assemble in groups on the veranda. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. I9 

The bell is rung, the guide is summoned and 
now leads the way out through the garden, 
down the rocky ravine deeply shaded by the 
primitive forest of tall tulip trees, butternut, 
hickory, ash and oak. 

Here the air is cool and bracing. Wild 
birds beguile the hours with their varied songs. 

The sensation is unique and delightful — you 
will never again experience it. We catch new 
inspiration from each long, deep draught of the 
vitalizing element. 

We approach the mouth ot the cave without 
knowing or expecting it. Turning suddenly to 
the right we behold before us a yawning chasm 
50 feet deep with irregular and precipitous sides. 

This is the unpretentious portal to a world 
of wonders. The dense forest casts a deep 
shadow over it. Green ferns and climbing 
vines cHng everywhere to the projecting rocks 
as if striving to cast some adorning drapery 
about their nakedness. 

THE CASCADE. 

A little spring of water pours a ceaseless 
stream of silvery beads from a shelving rock 
above the entrance and dashes it to spray in the 
chasm below. 

This is now the only sound we hear. You 
may fancy that the monotonous hum of the 



20 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

falling water, and the gloom of the thick over- 
hanging foliage, render the place a fit habitation 
for gnomes. 

The first emotions awakened at sight of this 
place are peculiar. A sense of chilliness is ex- 
perienced as we descend a long flight of stone 
steps along the right wall into the air of the 
cave. 

Now that we have brought you safely to the 
very threshold of the world's greatest wonder 
we will here tell what we next propose to do. 

We propose to describe briefly and accur- 
ately each object in its proper order as it will 
be shown by the guides, from the entrance to 
the end of the short journey. This done we 
will conduct you back to the entrance again. 
In connection with our descriptive account we 
will also give a brief historic and scientific ac- 
count of this natural curiosity. 

THE SHORT ROUTE. 

The deep chasm into which we have now 
descended is not the original mouth of the cave 
from which the waters that formed the cave 
emerged in prehistoric times. 

The original mouth is the entrance to Dixon's 
Cave farther down the hill toward Green river. 
Dixon's Cave is now rarely visited. It is but a 
continuation of the main Cave. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



21 




ENTRANCE TO MAMMOTH GAVE. 



THE PRESENT ENTRANCE. 



This was formed by the breaking down of 
the roof at this point, before the cave was dis- 
covered by white men. 



22 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

The little stream of water that still pours its 
tiny rill down into the chasm is probably respon- 
sible for the break in the original roof and for 
the existence of the present entrance. 

V/E LEAVE DAYLIGHT BEHIND. 

As we pass along the right hand wall the 
guide hands each a lighted lamp, until all are 
supplied 

We halt in front of the gate. The guide 
collects the tickets of admission, then unlocks 
that grim portal, passes all through into that 
mysterious silence, and palpaple darkness, turns 
and locks out daylight, the busy world and all 
recollection of them behind us, nor do we ever 
once think of our previous existence till we 
return to daylight again. 

THE NARROWS. 

For the distance of forty yards or more be- 
yond the gate there is a rude wall on each side 
extending from floor to ceiHng. These walls 
were built by the miners who prepared Saltpeter 
here in 1812-14 under the employ of the United 
States Government. This improvement was 
doubtless for the purpose of enabling a span of 
oxen and a wagon to pass into the cave. The 
ceiling is not high enough in the narrows to ad- 
mit of a tall person to pass beneath it without 
stooping. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 23 

When we have passed beyond the narrows 
the sense of going down hill is quite perceptible. 

The ceiling rises in like proportion and the 
cave grows wider. 

MINING EVIDENCES. 

Numerous rude appliances, such as old iron- 
bound pump logs, large wooden troughs, and old 
leeching vats, large enough for pig-pens, are 
scattered along from the entrance to the distance 
of more than half a mile into the cave. These 
were used by miners 75 years ago. We cut 
into the planks with our knife and found them in 
a very good state of preservation after all these 
long years. One hundred years hence 
they may still be found here. In this dry atmos- 
phere of unvarying temperature, decay of or- 
ganic matter makes little or no progress. 

BREATHING OF THE CAVE. 

You will have noticed Avhile passing along 
the narrows, just inside the gate, that a brisk 
current of wind plays a hazardous game with 
your lamp. This current blows outward in sum- 
mer when the weather is very warm. In fall, 
winter and spring when the temperature outside 
is much lower than it is inside, then the current 
blows into the cave. Sometimes there is no cur- 
rent blowing either way, owing to uniformity of 
temperature both without and within the cave. 



24 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




SALTPETER VATS. 



THE FIRST VATS. 
Here on your right you will observe two 
large pens in which the nitrous earth was leeched 
after being treated with fresh water admitted 
from the entrance through one line of these old 
pump logs. Through the other line, the lixiv- 
ium ^vas forced out to the entrance by means 
of a hand pump and there evaporated to crystals. 
A large quantity of wood ashes was neces- 
sary in the process of reduction in order to 
obtain the nitrate of potash or saltpeter. This salt 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 25 

was then carted to Philadelphia where it found 
a ready market. $20,000 per annum have been 
realized from this source alone. 

THE ROTUNDA. 

Next we enter the vestibule or rotunda. 
This is a large cavern at the beginning of the 
main cave. It lies directly under the dining- 
room of the hotel. Its dimensions bewilder the 
senses. It may be forty feet from floor to ceil- 
ing. Across the floor in the widest part is prob- 
ably 150 feet. 

The guide kindles a brisk light that you may 
judge of its dimensions. 

AUDUBON'S AVENUE. 

Leads ofl" to the right. Legions of cave bats 
congregate in this avenue in winter. The 
leather-winged little animals cling to walls and 
ceiling, head downward, in bunches of many 
bushels like swarms of bees, and doze awa}^ 
their existence in a semi-torpid state in darkness 
and repose. Nothing of special importance is 
found in the Avenue. It is rarely shown to vis- 
itors. 

THE MAIN CAVE. 

Is four miles long, 60 feet wide and 40 feet 
high. Different portions of it are known by dif- 
ferent names. The first mile is pretty straight^ 



26 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

then it turns sharply upon itself and the remain- 
der is crooked as you could desire it to be. The 
sense of going down hill is still apparent. The 
floor is covered with a very dry, fine, heavy 
gray-colored earth or dust, but it will not rise 
in spite of much kicking nor will it soil a polished 

boot. 

THE KENTUCKY CLIFFS. 

On your left is a continuous ledge of rocks 
•extending some eight or ten feet into the cave 
and perhaps ten feet high. The whole resem- 
bles very much the well known cHfls on the 
Kentucky River near Frankfort. Hence the 

name« 

PIGEON BOXES. 

In the cliflfs about four feet up the wall is a 
series of holes large enough to admit the hand. 
These holes were deftly carved out by the act- 
ion of acidulated water, while all around, the 
rest of the wall is unaffected. 

Similar phenomena are witnessed elsewhere 
on a grander scale. 

THE CHURCH. 

About a quarter of a mile beyond the ro- 
tunda we enter a second enlargement in the 
Main Cave. This has a gothic ceiHng spanning 
the vast arch forty feet above our heads. The 
room is somewhat irregular and embraces an 
area of many thousand square feet. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



27 



On the left hand side there is a second pro- 
jection some four or five feet high and wide 
enough to hold a stand and several chairs. 

This is known as the pulpit, because from it 
the gospel was many times preached to vast as- 
semblages below probably attracted thither by 
the novelty of the occasion. These old pump 
logs arranged in rows facing the pulpit are the 
pews. The whole of them would not rent for 
half as much as did a single seat in Henry Ward 
Beecher's church. Still they bear testimony 
that the Gospel was preached in the sunless cav- 
erns beneath the " dark and bloody ground." 

THEATER GALLERY. 

In the next considerable enlagement are 
several leeching vats, some of them full and 
some nearly empty. Considerable work was 
done at this point, judging from the appliances 
still found in this part of the Cave. 

The two lines of pump logs are still retained 
in situ, the one above the other, supported by 
rude masonry. 

Around the right hand side of this hall is a 
large gallery, high over our heads. This is 
known by the above name. 

On your right, and well up toward the ceil- 
ing is a large opening leading off to an avenue 
of great beauty. In order to enter this opening 



28 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

we pass over between the old vats, ascend a 
steep stairway of a dozen steps and continue up 
the slope some distance farther, where we find 
ourselves in the very old 

GOTHIC ARCADE. 

In this arcade we are introduced for the first 
time to stalactitic formations. These are pend- 
ant masses of alabaster hanging like icicles from 
the ceiling. Just beneath these pendant masses 
sometimes there is an upward growth of the 
same substance ; this is known as a stalagmite. 
These growths frequently unite in the middle 
and become firmly cemented together. Pillars 
of great strength and architectural beauty result 
from these unions. 

THE SEAT OF THE MUMMY. 

On the left may be seen a niche in the wall 
in which the guide will tell you was found the 
body of a female of the Indian race. Near by 
is a smaller niche in which was found the body 
of a child. Both were well preserved and 
dressed after the manner of the aborigines. 

The evidences upon this subject are so con- 
tradictory and vague, that we can say nothing 
new regarding them. As to who placed these 
bodies here, or when they were placed here, or 
where they now are, we are equally uninformed. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 29 

The guide will point out the spot known by the 
above name. 

That the niches are still to be seen here can 
not be questioned, but that any mummies were 
ever discovered in them is not so clearly proven. 
Every place must have a name, and there must 
be some reason for it. 

One writer has been wicked enough to in- 
quire how these mummies got up a perpendicu- 
lar wall at least a dozen feet high, to find the 
convenient niches ; so we will just leave the 
Avhole mummy business to explain its own dis- 
crepancies. 

POST OAK PILLAR. 

Here on the right is the first pillar we have 
yet encountered. It is probable a dozen feet 
high and a foot thick. The point of union of 
the stalactite growing downward and the stal- 
agmite growing upward is clearly perceptible. 
This point is always a little nearest the lower end 
and is generally the thinnest part of the pillar. 

Examine the base of this column and you 
will get some idea of the great eons of time in 
which the dust of this avenue has not been dis- 
turbed. This pillar was set up on the dust and 
rubbish as it lay of unknown depth without so 
much as clearing it away to secure a firm foun- 
dation. 



30 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Countless ages were consumed in the erec- 
tion of this pillar, and probably countless ages 
have elapsed since it was completed. The cave 
is very dry in this part of it. There can be no 
growth where there is no water, but the drops 
must fall at such intervals as to allow each drop 
to dry, and the Hme held in solution by it, to 
crystallize before the next drop falls; 

Otherwise there could be no growth at all, 
but instead of a pillar, a hole would be dissolved 
into the soluble bicarbonate of lime, the forma- 
tion into which this wonderful cave has been 
chiseled in the infinity of bygone ages. 

MONUMENT HALL. 

A portion of this avenue may well be called 
by the above name. Monuments are here erected 
to almost every State in the Union, as well as to 
institutions of learning and to foreign countries. 

Kentucky has very justly the largest, for it 
extends from floor to ceiling. We seek out the 
Keystone State, add one mite and pass on. 

THE REGISTER'S ROOM. 

In this part of the cave the ceiling was orig- 
inally white and singularly smooth and can not 
easily be distinguished from a plastered room. 

It is most grievously vandalized by smoke 
and disfigured by names of animals. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 3! 

GOTHIC CHAPEL. 

This is an enlarged room of great beauty. 
The ceiling is supported by pillars, forming very 
fair gothic arches. Numerous pendant masses 
of stalactite formation everywhere dot the ceil- 
ing. 

THE HORNET'S NESTS 

Are specimens of this kind. Numerous objects 
will here be shown by the guides, to some of 
which some historic interest attaches. 

OLD ARM CHAIR. 

Jenny Lind, recently dead, sat down in this 
chair of alabaster, during her first and only visit 
to America, in her palmy days of song, thirty- 
six years ago. 

Hundreds of visitors sit down in this same 
chair every year, just because Jenny Lind sat in 
it. The very rock of which the seat is fashioned 
is worn smooth by the left shoulder of the 
army of monkey mimics, and yet it is not re- 
corded that one of them ever noticed the perfect 
figure of a female, upon which they now so 
thoughtlessly sit. Just step back and contem- 
plate the figure for a few moments. Qiiickly 
you will see the head resting on the floor, while 
you sat upon the breast, the abdomen scarcely 



32 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

concealed. It is a striking figure, and quite as 
distinct and perfect as Vulcan's head in the old 
smithy. 

THE ELEPHANT'S HEAD 

Might have justified the name before the trunk 
was knocked oft'. At present any other name 
w^ould answer quite as well. 

NAPOLEON'S BREAST\VORKS. 

On the right is a slanting rock that fell from 
the ceiling, making a kind of barrier that pre- 
vents approach to the wall. This was the Cor- 
sican General's means of defense. 

THE HORNET'S NESTS 

Have already been alluded to. There is a dozen 
of them scattered along the ceiling. A little 
beyond is the 

BRIDAL CHAMBER. 

To young people it is an interesting little 
story that suggested the name of this little group 
of columns. It runs thus: A romantic young 
lady was here joined to the partner of her choice, 
notwithstanding the solemn promise she made 
to her maternal parent, on the latter's deathbed, 
that she (the daughter) would not marry any 
man on the face of the earth. And she didn't. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



33 




34 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

LOVER'S LEAP. 

Just beyond the columns now described, the 
floor is let down, while a spear of rock projects 
ov^er the cavern below. It is a dreary place we 
care not to contemplate. So here we turn about 
and retrace our steps to the Main Cave. 

As we pass back through this avenue of 
wonders, we surve}^ again, with renewed inter- 
est, the Pillars of Hercules, the numerous pend- 
ant masses of alabaster, and the formidable stal- 
agmites rising from below. We ponder over 
the measureless eons of time necessary for lay- 
ing down these lime rocks to the thickness of 400 
feet, at the bottom of a salt sea, in the carbon- 
iferous age of the paleazoic time, and then again, 
the time necessary for the subsidence of this salt 
sea, and then the still greater time required for 
the solution of this lime rock by both the mechani- 
cal and chemical action of acidulated water, by 
which these ancient halls were fashioned. Then 
must follow the slow process of building up again, 
pure alabaster forms — these fanciful figures- 
transformed from the bicarbonate of lime, first 
by the process of solution, then by the reverse 
process of crystalHzation. Each object appears 
to the thoughtful mind as being one of special 
interest, because associated with so great anti- 
quity. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 35 

We confess to a feeling of chagrin at the 
evidences everywhere apparent of the lack of 
appreciation of the unique and beautiful in nature. 
Every smoked character and every broken stal- 
actite upon the ceihng, represents an instance 
of violated trust. In the language of Horace 
Mann : '' Every instance of a violated conscience, 
like every broken string of a harp, limits the 
compass of its music and mars its harmony 
forever." 

DOWN THE STEPS. 

We have now returned to the Main Cave at 
the point of departure. After going forward a 
short distance, we enter 

THE BALL ROOM. 

This is a fine, large room, but why so called 
we failed to learn. We are informed that in 
this room the cattle were stalled and fed durino- 
intervals of rest, while the miners were employed 
here. Cartwheel marks and ox-tracks, made 
seventy-five years ago, are still plainly visible in 
this part of the cave. 

STANDING ROCKS. 

Just beyond the Ball Room, on the left side 
of the path, are several large, thin rocks, stand- 
ing on edge. These tumbled from the ceiling, 
thirty feet above. The momentum of these heavy 



;^6 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

masses of matter, forced them into the dust and 
debris, which holds them erect to this day. 
The one next to the wall stands the nearer per- 
pendicular. It is faced by a heavy ogee mold- 
ing, giving it a kind of architectural appearance. 

THE STATUE. 

Just beyond the standing rocks, the guide 
halts, and bids the visitors go forward till the}' 
hear his call, then on turning and looking back 
toward the entrance a beautiful marble statue 
has burst suddenly and most unexpectedly upon 
the view. This phantasmagorial statue is a most 
perfect delusion. The longer you gaze, the more 
perfect it seems, and yet there is nothing w^hat- 
ever there. This pleasing deception may be ex- 
plained as follows: There are several bends in 
this part of the cave. When you have passed 
along some distance and then look back, the 
two walls have approached each other, each 
wall forms the outline of one side of the statue, 
the white wall in the dim light beyond, springs 
out in a veritable statue, that will astonish and 
electrify you. Very few persons guess the secret 
of this phantasm, w^hile the masses feel the spell 
of enchantment. 

THE V^ATER CLOCK. 

A continuous dropping of water at regular 
intervals, suggests the ticking of a long pendu- 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 37 

lum clock. A little pool on our left receives the 
drops and gives forth the sound. 

It is an interesting fact that this regular 
dropping has continued for many years, without 
perceptible variation in frequency, hence the 
name. 

THE GRAND ARCH. 

All the v^ay from the entrance to this point, 
we have traveled sharply down hill. In other 
words the original cave is less filled up here, 
and consequently the arch of the roof springs 
higher over our heads, gixing the whole a sub- 
limity and impressive grandeur not heretofore 
observed. 

THE GIANT'S COFFIN. 

At this point the cave becomes suddenly 
widened. The floor is covered with great 
masses of rock that have fallen from the ceiling. 
We half suspect, too, that many of these rock 
masses have been forced here by the mighty 
floods that have rushed through these caverns 
with almost resistless power, in the long ago. 
One very large mass of rock, probably forty feet 
or more in length, stands w^ell up, and, when 
viewed from a certain point, bears a striking- 
resemblance to a large coffin. 



3? 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




GIANT S C'UFFIN. 



PICTURES ON THE W^ALL. 

In this part of the cave the walls and ceiling 
are covered with an incrustation of gypsum and 
the black oxyde of manganese — in short, they 
are particolored. Many pictures will be pointed 
out to you here, quite as perfect as some we 
have seen wrought by amateurs on perforated 
card board. The whole menagerie will be ex- 
plained to you by the guide. As each animal is 
pointed out, you will determine for yourself 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 39 

whether it resembles most the thing named, a 
whale or a weasel. 

WE LEAVE THE MAIN CAVE. 

Here we turn to the right, pass around the 
foot end of Giant's Coffin, and creep down an 
uninviting hole leading to the 

DESERTED CHAMBERS. 

We really cross over beneath the main cave; 
descend a flight of stairs, and after a grievous 
amount of stooping, we enter the 

WOODEN BOWL. 

This is a low room of irregular outline, forty 
or fifty yards across the rough, uneven floor. The 
ceiling is probably ten feet high in the middle, 
gradually sloping down in all directions. A 
wooden bowl is said to have been found here by 
the first man that explored this particular room. 
Whether the bowl was placed here by Indians, 
Avho may have known something about the cave, 
or was carried here by water, is not known. 

BLACK SNAKE AVENUE 

Puts off from this room in both directions. It 
bears this name because of the color of the walls 
and of its serpentine course. No snakes of any 
kind are ever found in the cave. 



40 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

MARTHA'S PALACE. 

This is a cone shaped opening carved into 
the soHd rock that forms the roof over our 
heads. In all this region the slow work of 
rock carving is still going on. 

The little drops of water, falling at such in- 
tervals that they may be counted, are the assid- 
uous agents by which these wonderful domes 
and numerous pits are fashioned. 

We next creep down a most uninviting pas- 
sage to the right and soon congregate around a 
little pool of drinkable water, where we quench 
our thirst at 

RICHARDSON'S SPRING. 

The water drips from the ceiling and wells 
up from the bottom and runs through a little rill 
from the wall. The convenient dipper^ after 
serving all, is again hung up by inserting the 
handle into a crevice in the ceiling, and we pass 
on into the 

ARCHED WAY. 

This is high enough to permit you to stand 
erect. You now move forward without obstruc- 
tion until the guide shouts, " Careful on your 
right.'' You will observe a wooden railing 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 4 1 

placed here to prevent any one from straying 
into 

SIDE-SADDLE PIT. 

The guide now lights a taper and lets you 
see how high Minerva's Dome extends upward, 
then drops it into the cavern beneath. You 
now bend over the railing and watch the spiral 
descent until it drops upon the floor, we do not 
know how far below. A sense of dampness 
and the presence of vegetable mold are observ- 
able here. We have descended to a point not 
far from the level of Green River. 

We turn to the right and go still lower. We 
descend a steep, but firm, wooden stairway 
into the 

LABYRINTH. 

This very tortuous passage leads toward al- 
most every point of the compass. It is a nar- 
row gorge, with fantastically carved walls, hon- 
eycombed and nodulted in most inimitable 
forms. Presently we ascend a second stairway 
and descend a third. A magnificent spectacle 
here awaits us, for we are standing by the win- 
dow-like opening of 

GORIN'S DOME. 

The strongest lights we have at command 
give us but an imperfect idea of the bewildering 



42 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

dimensions of this wonderful dome. Not the 
least wonderful feature of this dome is the great 
stone curtain that extends to within probably 
twenty feet of the floor below. So striking is 
the similitude that the ver}^ folds of the curtain 
might seem to shake as you move your lamp 
from side to side. We are of the opinion that 
this curtain is not of stalactitic formation, as 
stated by Mr. Hovey. The very low and damp 
situation is not favorable for stalactitic forma- 
tions. The water may still be heard dripping 
in the dismal depths. The beautiful curtains we 
see are probably the original limestone rocks 
upon which were executed these fantastic carv- 
ings by the agency of acidulated water. 

Running water, when slightly acidulated, 
will dissolve, take up and carry away the bicar- 
bonate of lime in the dark, but it will not pre- 
cipitate anything held in solution in the dark. 
It requires the agency of light to produce this 
result, as may be shown at Yellow Springs, 
Ohio ; at the Hot Springs, in Arkansas, and 
even at the common chalybeate springs all over 
the country. Neither stalactite nor stalagmite 
will be formed until the water evaporates suffi- 
ciently to allow the lime held in solution to 
crystallize. 

We throw a lighted taper down into the 
chasm below, but we fail to get any idea of its 



THE MAMMOTH CAVi:. 43 

dimensions or of its beauty. It simply impresses 
us with its overpowering grandeur. From top 
to bottom it is probably near two hundred feet. 
The distance from side to side can not be easily 
measured, nor can we even guess correctly. 
An opening has been found to communicate 
with the bottom of this dome, but it is not often 
traversed. It is never show^n to visitors. We 
now retrace our steps ; pass up one stairway, 
down a second and up a third, to the point of 
departure. Here we turn to the right and pass 
over the 

BRIDGE OF SIGHS. 

Now we are fully prepared for it ; that dis- 
mally stale joke that the joke fiend never fails 
to inflict upon everybody save Indians not taxed 
— ''Bridge of Small Size!" There it comes! 
He wisely refrained from uttering it till he had 
passed over, lest an avenging Providence might 
hurl him into the Bottomless Pit, over which 
the bridge leads. 

THE BOTTOMLESS PIT 

Has been robbed of its chief horror by the dis- 
covery of a bottom some thirty or forty feet be- 
low the bridge. We light a taper and hold it 
up and look into the darkness that hangs like a 
pall over that pit. Then the guide drops a 



44 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




THE BOTTOMLESS PIT. 



THE MAMMO'J H CAVE. 45 

lighted taper down into the yawning chasm, 
and we look after it and sigh, for there are a 
few features not wholly bereft of all that is hor^ 
rible, down in that abyss. 

SHELBY'S DOME 

Hangs in all its darkness and sublimity over 
that pit, each being the counterpart of the 
other, for the dome adds depth to the pit and 
the pit adds height to the dome. 

PENSACOLA AVENUE. 

We now pass forw^ard in this w^onderful 
avenue, beneath Sno\vball Arch, and observe 
many beautiful things in the excresences on the 
wall. We pass over some ver}^ rough piles of 
rock, some of which w^ere probably forced here 
by water while some fell from the ceiling. 

THE GRAND CROSSINGS. 

This is a wild portion of the avenue. Four 
avenues meet at this place, or, rather, one cuts 
across and down into another beneath it, show- 
ing a kind of cross here. Unmistakable signs 
of hydrostatic pressure are visible all along this 
part of the hall. 

Here we retrace our steps and leave 



46 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

REVELER'S HALL 

Behind us, " grand, gloomy and peculiar," and 
press forward, over the Bridge of Sighs, past 
the Bottomless Pit and Side-saddle Pit, take an- 
other drink at Richardson's Spring, climb up the 
Steps of Time and enter the Wooden Bow^l^ 
from w^hich we presentl}^ emerge into the Main 
Cave, right behind the Giant's Coffin, facing 
Garfield's Monument. No more stooping on 
this journey. We can now stand up at full 
height and expand in every direction, for the 
ceiling is forty feet above us. 

THE ACUTE ANGLE. 

We have now reached a point where the Main 
Cave turns sharply upon itself but still retains 
its immensity. The floor is rough and rocky. 
The dust is here very dry and heavy. 

STONE HUTS. 

Close to the left hand wall stands a stone 
hut, about fourteen feet wide by eighteen or 
twenty feet long and eight feet high. Further 
along is another, still larger, with the rear wall 
tumbled in. No windows were necessary. We 
observe the same peculiarity in the log houses 
in Arkansas and Texas, where it is not near so 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



47- 




STONE HUTS. 



dark. The roofs and floors of these huts have 
disappeared. They were probably appropriated 
for the construction of stairs, bridges, railings 
and so forth. They would not decay in this dry 
atmosphere. 

These stone huts were erected for the ac- 
commodation of a dozen or more consumptives, 
who, in 1843, resorted to the cave, hoping to 
derive benefit from a prolonged abode in a dry 
atmosphere of uniform temperature. They re- 
mained in the cave from September to January. 
The experiment was not a success. Some of 
of them died here ; the rest, not benefited, left 
the cave, and all died soon after dwelling in the 
less bracing atmosphere of the outer world. 



48 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

The absence of sunlight is not conducive to 
animal health or organic life. Trees of various 
kinds were planted around these huts and care- 
fully irrigated, but the}^ budded not nor did they 
grow. The writer saw many of the sapless 
remains of these trees in the cave at his first 
visit, more than a score of years ago. 

A short visit to the cave may be conducive 
to health — at least it is not known to be detri- 
mental to health — but a prolonged stay in the 
cave, surrounded by palpable darkness, is pro- 
longed suicide. 

Some forms of cerebral disease or ophthal- 
mic affections might, possibly, be benefited by a 
few day's sojourn in this dark, quiet nether 

world. 

THE STAR CHAMBER. 

This very interesting natural phenomenon is 
found a short distance beyond the Deserted Vil- 
lage. It is probably one hundred yards long, 
forty to sixty feet wide, and, maybe, forty feet 
high. No claim is here made for accuracy of 
measurement. This chamber has, however, 
preserved its characteristic entablature, frieze 
and cornice complete on a very grand scale. 

In the dim light of our lamps all estimates 
of distance must be mere guess work. All the 
essential properties and conditions are here pres- 
ent for producing the most delusive effects. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 49 

One of the most charming deceptions any- 
where to be met may be enjoyed here while 
fully conscious that the whole is a very counter- 
feit presentment of nature's self. The concave 
ceilinof is covered with a dark incrustation of 
iron and manganese, bespangled with bright, 
shining crystals of gypsum, the plane of whose 
surface is set at various angles. By this arrange- 
ment, according to a well known law of optics, 
one ray of incidence will produce a thousand 
rays of reflection, all of which converge to a 
point in the eye of the observer. At every 
considerable remove of the light a new constel- 
lation is presented. The guide now seats the 
company on a bench near the right hand wall, 
takes all the lights and moves slowly away. 
Night's sootbag is a white spot compared to the 
utter darkness that prevails while the guide is 
going through a secret passage beyond our 
view. He reappears from behind a rock throw- 
ing the light upon the vaulted ceiling. The 
dim distance is now transformed into a blue 
firmament of immeasurable depth, everywhere 
twinkling with myriad stars of every magnitude, 
brightness and splendor. Off to the right is a 
pterygoid plate of gypsum which sends a blaz- 
ing comet across the sky. 

Though we are perfectly conscious of the 
true status of the situation, it is not easy to 



50 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

realize that we are not gazing thousands of miles 
into space instead of against a solid rock only 
a few yards above our heads. As we gaze and 
wonder the sky seems to recede and the illusion 
is complete. The guide here manipulates the 
lamps so as to throw the shadow of a projecting 
rock slowly upon the ceiling in imitation of a 
cloud overspreading the sky, and so simulating 
an approaching storm, w^hich does not break 
upon us, for the clouds disappear and the stars 
flash out again in all their splendor. 

This culminating point of the Short Journey 
is, perhaps, the most solemnly grand and impres- 
sively sublime spectacle to be seen in the cave. 
No one who has witnessed it will forget the 
strange spell it put upon him, nor would he for- 
get the pleasure he enjoyed in contemplating 
this unique phenomenon. 

The guide here closes the entertainment by 
drawling the curtain, and then treating us to an 
original sunrise, accompanied by the crowing of 
cocks and the yelping of dogs in a mimic rat 
icatch, in which the versatile Henry shows him- 
self an accomplished ventriloquist. 

This closing entertainment can not be ade- 
quately described. The scenic efl:ect defies de- 
scription. It is a play that must be witnessed. 
We might go much further in this direction, but 
we do not choose to do so. We can not profit- 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 5 1 

abl}^ partake of every course through the entire 
bill of fare. 

We will now retrace our steps toward the 
entrance. We pass in order, first, the Stone 
Huts, then we double the cape at the Acute 
Angle, take another look at the Fixed Animals 
and the Giant's Coffin, then toil up the Gentle 
Slope, pass the Water Clock, the Statue, the 
Second Hoppers, the Standing Rocks, the Ball 
Room, the Church, and finally to the Rotunda. 

Here Ave may linger a few minutes and look 
at these Mushroom Beds. In 1882 a company 
of capitalists expended several thousand dollars 
in demonstrating that mushrooms can not be 
profitably grown in the Mammoth Cave. This 
we fully suspected long ago. 

The absence of sunlight is fatal to phaen- 
ogamic life. This was amply demonstrated in 
the case of those trees that were planted near 
the huts. The absence of moisture must be 
equally fatal to the cryptogamia, to say nothing 
of the , temperature in the cave, which is quite 
too low at 54° to 59° Fahrenheit for organic 
health and growth. Every one must have no- 
ticed the absence of organic forms of vegetable 
origin in the cave. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



THE AGARICUS ODORATUS 

Is probably the kind of mushroom that was here 
tried. This well known edible cryptogam was 
largely used as an article of food by the ancient 
Greeks. It was largely cultivated in the district 
or province of Agaria in ancient Greece. Hence 
the generic name. 

There is nothing of special interest to detain 
us here any longer. We next recognize the 
walls of the Narrows and perceive the current 
of air blowing into the cave, by which w^e antici- 
pate a fall of temperature outside. Soon the 
dim light of the outside world brings into view 
the iron gate, which Henry unlocks. We soon 
pass out and stand by the little stream whose 
sound is singularly magnified. For a short time 
the shadows and colors are strangely intensified. 
If you look into the eye of your fello\v tourist 
you will observe that the pupil is much enlarged 
as the result of the prolonged effort to catch 
every ray of Hght. The effect is somewhat sim- 
ilar to that produced by the application of a so- 
lution of atropia to the eye. 

The stimulus of sunlight will, sooner or later, 
reduce the pupil of the eye to its normal condi- 
tion, when all things will assume their natural 
appearance again. So ends the Short Journey. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 53 

THE LONG JOURNEY. 

Promptly at the hour of 9 o'clock a. m. we 
start again ; this time with a supernumerary car- 
rying a well filled lunch basket,, to be discussed 
in Washington Hall beyond the rivers. 

The profound and refreshing sleep generally 
enjoyed in this quiet place has fully prepared us 
for the eighteen miles tramping, creeping and 
floating we are destined to perform before we 
return to daylight again. 

In making the Long Journey we are ob- 
liged to follow, for one mile and a half, the 
same path we followed in making the Short 
Journey yesterday. 

Hence we start in the same direction, out 
through the garden and down the rocky ravine 
in the deep shade of this charming old forest, 
where the Sabbath stillness of " Sleepy Hollow" 
prevails the year round. 

Presently we stand again by the flat rock, 
gazing wistfully down at the entrance. We re- 
call the emotions of yesterday. Reassured that 
this is not a dream, we pass again down the long 
flight of rude stone steps, turning toward the 
right wall as we descend. Here we receive 
again our well trimmed lamps, take a last lin- 
gering look at the daylight, and press forward to 
the iron gate, yield up our tickets and then dis- 



54 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

appear into the dreamy mysteries of the nether 
world. 

THE TEMPERATURE OF THE CAVE 

Is uniformly not far from 54° Fahrenheit. As the 
temperature outside is this morning 76°, a strong 
current of air is rushing out through the Nar- 
rows toward the entrance. So have a care with 
your lamps, lest you may be suddenly left in 
utter darkness. 

The guide has made thoughtful provision for 
every emergency. An ample supply of matches, 
Bengal Hghts and oiled rags make his outfit for 
the day's requirements. 

We pass on, at moderate speed, through the 
the Narrows, the Rotunda, the Church — keeping 
in the Main Cave. We do not ascend the steps 
leading to Gothic Avenue on the right, but w^e 
press on through the Ball Room, over the ox- 
tracks and cart-wheel marks and take another 
look at the Standing Rocks. We feel a peculiar 
satisfaction in viewing a second time some of 
the strange things we saw on the previous day. 

A little reflection, after a sound sleep, sobers 
the mind and aids the judgment. A clear 
conception of the cold facts will disrobe many 
curious things of at least a portion of their en- 
chanted garments. These thoughts fill the mind 
as we pass through that part of the cave whose 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 55 

mechanical outline, when viewed from a certain 
point, brings out that optical illusion — the phan- 
tasmagorial statue — the " Woman in White." 

We press forward with a sense of going down 
a gentle slope, till presently we stand, the only liv- 
ing members of a strange menagerie, at the foot 
of the Giant's Coffin, one mile from the en- 
trance. 

At this point we turn sharply to the right 
and leave the Main Cave by creeping down a 
low, uninviting passage, just behind the Giant's 
Coffin. This passage leads to the Deserted 
Chambers in Blacksnake Avenue. These cham- 
bers are on a lower level than is the Main Cave. 

We make several abrupt descents, as we pass 
and repass three several times beneath the Main 
Cave before we reach Side-saddle Pit. 

We are now traveling back toward the mouth 
of the cave, but far below the level of the en- 
trance. We are still on the same track of yes- 
terday, as described in the Short Route. You 
will observe we do not turn off to the right into 
the Labyrinth beyond Side-Saddle Pit, but we 
keep forward, turning a little to the left, pass 
over the Bridge of Sighs, spanning the Bottom- 
less Pit, and follow the Arched Way till we 
enter a wild, irregular cavern known as 



56 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

REVELER'S HALL. 

At this point we make a new departure and 
enter upon scenes not described in the Short 
Route. Instead of following the more preten- 
tious and inviting Pensacola Avenue, we turn to 
the left and creep cautiously under a large, flat 
rock, known as 

THE SCOTCHMAN'S TRAP. 

By some frightful commotion among the 
rocks, perhaps ages ago, the most elaborately 
ornamented portions of the cave came near 
being veiled from human sight. The huge stone 
cover, that would have blocked up this passage 
to the rivers had not the apex of its angle caught 
against the wall, still leans over the opening at 
an angle of forty-five degrees. We cast a sus- 
picious glance at this arrested dead-fall as w^e 
descend the declivity and hasten into 

THE VALLEY OF HUMILITY. 

Here we do a grievous amount of stooping, 
recalling some of the characters in "Dante's In- 
fernoP Suddenly we enter a new passage at 
right angles. This is high enough to permit us 
to stand upright. The portion leading to the 
right is called 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 57 

BUNYAN'S WAY. 

This may be followed for miles of tortuous; 
windings that only weary and perplex the ex- 
plorer, by bringing him into the old path again, 
without discovering anything of special interest. 

That part leading to the left is known as 

BUCHANAN'S WAY. 

This may be followed for a long distance 
with no better results. We choose, however, to 
follow it about forty yards, where we turn off at 
right angles into that " mill of the gods " — that 
torment of obesity — 

FAT MAN'S MISERY. 

This unique passage is near one hundred 
yards long and from sixteen to twenty-two 
inches wide. The channel proper is twenty- 
eight to thirty inches deep. The roof rock is 
from three and a half to five feet above the bot- 
tom of the channel. Before this channel was 
cut there was a lateral cleft between the two 
layers of rock, extending several yards on either 
side of the lowest portion of the under layer. 

In seeking out the lowest portion, the water 
pursued a most tortuous course for thousands of 
years, until it had silently chiseled out this nar- 



58 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

row passage to a nearly uniform width and 
depth, in which the very ripple marks are pre- 
served in stone of unique pattern. The bottom 
and sides are smooth but not even. They are 
the waters of a storm driven sea, in miniature, 
transformed into stone. 

Two persons can not pass each other in this 
channel. Indeed, it is difficult enough for one 
person to pass, and if he exceed certain pre- 
scribed limits it becomes the needle's eye 
through which the very fat man may never 
pass, though heaven lay beyond. The largest 
man that ever passed through this channel 
w^eighed 282J pounds, but the guide had to 
come to his aid, and even then, as the fat man 
himself declares, the rocks had to bend a little. 
In such desperate straights a man's word may 
not be safely questioned, so, rather than let him 
perish just where he would shut off so much 
beauty from the leaner world, we indorse the 
statement — with a mental reservation. The pe- 
culiar feature of this channel is a study for the 
scientist, who never hastens through it. In- 
deed, the fattest dullard shows a tendency to 
■linger in its narrowest portions. 

Suddenly we emerge into a high, open space, 
known as 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



GREAT RELIEF. 



59 



Now it is relief, indeed, to be permitted to 
extend the limbs and expand the kings to their 
fullest extent and capacity. 

Overhead are soine peculiar phenoinena, de- 
pendent upon the different degrees of solubility 
of the rock. 

ODD-FELLOW'S LINKS. 

These represent a portion of a chain stretched 
across the ceiling and adherent to it. The like- 
ness is very complete. The discoloration of the 
links shows the presence of iron in the rock 
which resists the action of water. Many inter- 
esting forms will be pointed out in this part of 
the Long Route. The most important of these 
forms are found in the 

BACON CHAMBER. 

As the water rushed into this chamber 
through several passages, the effect was some- 
what like that produced by the whirlpool below 
Niagara Falls. The resulting commotion forced 
the water against the ceiling and thus dissolved 
out, in time, some wonderful forms, which re- 
semble rows of hams of meat suspended from 
the ceiling. 



6o THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Four blind people visited the cave some years 
ago. They were extravagant in their expres- 
sions of appreciation of the beauties and won- 
ders of the cave. 

On being shown into the Bacon Chamber, 
these blind visitors recognized it at sight, and 
declared that the likeness seemed to them very 
striking. 

This may seem phenomenal to those who 
are skeptically inclined, but you will remember 
that blind people can see in the cave, by the aid 
of their lamps, quite as well as the blind fish 
that always live in the cave. 

RIVER HALL. 

Darkness that is palpable and stillness that 
is painful pervade this gloomy region perpetu- 
ally, except when the lamps of an exploring 
party shed their feeble light in these lofty halls^ 
or when the swollen rivers dash against the 
rocks with sullen roar. The water may rise 
forty feet in this hall. Such a rise will, for a 
short time, prevent the navigation of Echo River. 
The statement that the w^ater in the cave is sub- 
ject to sudden tidal fmctuations is not based on 
facts. The water in the cave rises and sub- 
sides as Green River rises and subsides. 

From the Bacon Chamber we retrace our 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 6l 

Steps in River Hall. The guide will point out 
the 

OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS 

And the Atlantic Cable ; whether Bennet's or 
another line he does not mention, and no one 
asks the question. 

THE DEAD SEA. 

This dismal looking pool lies far below our 
feet. If we hurl a stone down into its mysteri- 
ous depths, as almost every one is tempted to do, 
there follows a responsive thud that awakens a 
legion of slumbering echoes. These waters are 
never stagnant or foul but always pure and 
fresh. At low water the Dead Sea is twenty feet 
deep. At one place we may approach near its 
surface and almost feel the strange gloom that 
hovers over it. 

THE RIVER STYX 

Is in some way connected with the other rivers 
in the cave. Its depth, width and length depend 
upon the stage at which measurement is made. 

THE NATURAL BRIDGE. 

This is a limestone arch, spanning the stream 
far above the water at low stage. We cross 
over this bridge. It is well to be very careful 



62 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




THE RIVER STYX. 



here, as we may find a slippery place, or a low 
ceiling beneath which we must stoop in passing. 
The next point of interest is 



LAKE LETHE. 



We reach this point after crossing the bridge 
and descending a steep stairway to the level of 
these mythological streams or pools in River 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 6^ 

Hall, where thick, dreary darkness surrounds us ; 
the dark gray rocks on all sides and over us, and 
at our feet lies a pool of fresh, sweet water never 
rippled by the breeze. 

Moored by a stake driven into the sand is a 
little boat, into which we step and are ferried 
safely to the other side. 

At some seasons the water is so low that we 
pass over on the dry sand and do not need a 
boat till we reach Echo River. 

You will here observe the magnificent cor- 
nice all along this dreary hall. It lacks only 
the owl's complaining to the moon, to suggest 
some baronial castle of the middle ages. 

SHAKESPEARE'S HEAD. 

Two hundred yards from Echo River up on 
the left hand wall, and nearly opposite the Snow 
Clouds, is a very clever Hkeness of the tragic 
poet. Any one who has ever seen the immortal 
bard will recognize even in this dim light the 
truthfulness of the picture. It is not a sil- 
houette, nor a bass relief, but a very clever in- 
taglio. 

One might imagine that the irate Ignatius 
had seized the reckless poacher who "knew lit- , 
tie of Latin and none of Greek," and jammed 
his head into this solid rock, in his Herculean 
effort to make the world beHeve that the " Sweet 



64 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Swan of Avon " was Bacon, and not Shakes- 
peare. 

THE GREAT WALK. 

Our path now leads over undulating sand 
deposits, many of them very large. In some of 
these the sand is fine and white, in others it is 
coarse and red. 

These heavy deposits of coarse sand indicate 
the force of the current w^hen the rivers are high. 

All along this grotto the ceiling is high over 
our heads, not less than thirty, and in some places 
more than forty feet. It seems probable that the 
water began to flow between strata of these 
soluble limestone rocks ages ago, cutting away 
the under rock and leaving the upper, which 
now forms the roof over our heads. 

In ten minutes slow walk from the Lethe 
Lake we reach the 

ECHO RIVER. 

This wonderful stream is in some respects 
the most interesting phenomenon in this part of 
the cave. Its water has a temperature of fifty- 
four degrees, and at some seasons the bottom 
may be distinctly seen at the depth of twenty 
feet or more. In the widest part it is probably 
one hundred and fifty feet across. It is navigable 
for the distance of more than half a mile. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



65 




A RIDE ON ECHO RIVER. 

As we now approach the water, we find here 
several substantial boats, with comfortable seats 
along fhe sides, each large enough to hold a dozen 
persons. We step into one of these boats and 
arrange -ourselves along the two sides. The 



66 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

guide unties, pushes off, and manages the craft. 
As the boat moves gently along, you may 
observe the perpendicular wall on the right, sup- 
porting the roof forty feet above our heads. The 
roof descends gradually as it extends back from 
the river, till it meets the gradually rising sandy 
floor. 

When we have reached the arch, the river 
seems to have come to an end. There is a 
rocky passage leading to the left, by which we 
may go around the river. This is known as 

PURGATORY. 

We do not choose to disembark and follow 
this passage. On our right is a low arch, prob- 
ably three and a half, certainly not more than 
four, feet high. Into this arch the guide directs 
our boat, shouting " low bridge." By stooping 
we pass safely under this arch, and direct the 
course of the craft by placing our hands against 
the rocks over head. After going two or three 
lengths of the boat, the rocky arch springs far 
over our heads. Now w^e observe the peculiar- 
ity for which this river and grotto are so justly 
famous. It is not, properly, an echo that follows 
every utterance of sound. It is something far 
more enchanting and musical than echo. We 
are not familiar with anything like it elsewhere^ 
hence we can not describe it. We might say it 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 67 

is an uninterrupted series of cadences, gently 
intensified till the climax is reached, at which 
point the force begins to diminish, the cadence 
is prolonged, the harmony and sweetness are 
sustained till the last trill dies away in the dis- 
tance, too etherially fine for adequate description. 
Again and again we repeat the experiment, only 
to be more and more enchanted by the result 
and more hopelessly puzzled in our efforts at 
description. A single voice is converted into an 
orchestra. "Annie Laura" and the ''Last Rose 
of Summer" have afforded many fine bits of 
phonation when very slowly rendered here. 

No one who has experienced this elysian 
sense of sound can ever forget it. It is soft, 
sweet music in far-off Paradise. 

The water is pure and sweet, and has no 
perceptible current. It is never foul or stagnant. 

We have now reached the landing at 

CASCADE HALL. 

This is a large, irregular and rocky cavern. 
Here we step out of the boat, and the guide ties 
her securely for our return trip. 

The sound of falling water greets our ears. 
A small stream, not thicker than a gentleman's 
cane, issues from an opening in the ceiling and 
disappears among the rocks on the floor. This 
is the wildest and most romantic cavern beyond 



68 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

the Styx. It has an area of a quarter of an 
acre, irregular and picturesque on every side. 
The floor is almost impassable with rocks and 
rubbish that have fallen at intervals from the 
ceiling or were washed here by hydrostatic 
pressure. It is a fit habitation for the gnomes 
who have until recently held unenvied and undis- 
puted possession. 

SILLIMAN'S AVENUE, 

Seven or eight yards wide, from eight to twelve 
yards high, and one mile and a half long, begins 
at this hall. This avenue was named in honor 
of Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Jr., who explored 
this cave in 1850. 

Prof. Silliman devoted much time and atten- 
tion to the study of the blind fish found in this 
cave. Dr. Dekay first described these blind fish 
in 1842 under the name of " Amblyopsis Spel- 
ceus^"^ by which name they are known to the 
scientist. 

This avenue has many points of interest for 
the casual explorer. 

The floor is very irregular, and at places 
almost impassable, owing to portions of the ceil- 
ing having tumbled down from time to time 
many centuries ago. 

Either wall has a well defined cornice of 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 69 

shelving rock near the roof of the cavern, which 
gives it a heavy architectural finish. 

On each side of this Avenue little passways 
put off, wind through the rocks, and finally ter- 
minate in the avenue farther along. 

WELLINGTON'S GALLERY. 

This is the first point to which your atten- 
tion is called. It is merely a landmark, and 
contains nothing of special importance. 

DRIPPING SPRING, 
A pool of water receiving its supply, drop by 
drop, from the ceiHng. It serves to quench the 
thirst of the tourist. 

THE INFERNAL REGIONS. 

This part of the cave being low, it is subject 
to overflow, and the floor does not dry out 
promptly after the water subsides. 

The path being rocky, uneven and slippery, 
may induce you to sit down suddenly and pon- 
der over the appropriateness of the name. 
Profanity not allowed ! 

THE SEA SERPENT 

Is a tortuous crevice cut into the rock overhead. 
It will not especially interest you. The guide 
may call your attention to the Valley Wayside 
Cut, but this has no claims upon your sympathy. 



yo THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

THE HILL OF FATIGUE 

Appeals to you lor renewed muscular effort. 
Here occurs a sudden turn in the direction of 
the avenue, producing a very fair representation 
of the stern of a ship. This is known as the 

GREAT WESTERN. 

You may even fancy down among the rub- 
bish a monster rudder, turned hard aport. 

THE VALLEY OF FLOWERS. 

Here the excrescences of gypsum discolored 
by streaks of iron, resemble an avalanche of rare 
and delicate flowers. When we first saw this 
singular phenomenon, a score of years ago, it 
was white as alabaster and very beautiful. In 
spite of every precaution, it has suffered mutila- 
tion at the hands of the ever curious tourist. It 
has also become much darkened by the lamp- 
smoke of numerous visitors. 

THE RABBIT 

Is much too large and lacks ears, but the pose 
of the animal is perfect, and the repose profound. 

OLE BULL'S CONCERT ROOM. 

When the tall, acerb Scandinavian visited the 
cave many years ago, he carried his violin with 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 7I 

him. He treated the company to some' match- 
less diapasons on Echo River, and also in this 
part of SilHman's Avenue, which still bears his 
name. Here the name of the avenue is changed 

to that of 

PASS OF EL GHOR. 

For the distance of a mile and a half, El 
Ghor is a distorted labyrinth of beautiful and 
surprising sights ; now narrow and lofty, now 
flattened out between horizontal strata of lime- 
stone, whose broken edges assume the most 
remarkable forms. Here is a little ve-stibule 
with moldings and friezes of the gothic style 
of arcitecture ; beyond is a Cretan labyrinth of 
the most singular and uncouth proportions, ter- 
minating in a series of ramifications leading to 
several tiers of avenues. 

We will mention a few of the many objects 
of interest that crowd upon us here. 

HANGING ROCK. 

This is a large rock, resting upon one point 
that saved it from falling to the floor. 

THE FLY CHAMBER 

Receives its name from a profusion of specks 
of black gypsum upon the walls and ceiling, 
resembling myriads of flies in repose. 



72 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

TABLE ROCK, OR SHEEP SHELTER, 

Is twenty feet long, and projects eight or ten 
feet into the hall near the floor. It is two feet 
thick. 

VICTORIA'S CROWN. 

This is six feet across, and stands up ten feet 
above the floor. It is a very correct likeness of 
a crown — hard and ston}^ as royalty itself. 

CORINNE'S DOME. 

This is an interesting spot, everywhere beau- 
tified with a profusion of rock blossoms that 
defy description. 

BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA. 

An opening near the left side of the pass, 
not deep nor dangerous, but quite too rough to 
tumble into merely for fun. 

HENDERSON'S REST. 

This is a good place to stop for a little while 
if you are not in any particular hurry. So you 
may take seats on these rocks for about ten min- 
utes. Just ahead of us you see a steep flight of 
stone steps, leading to an upper gallery. These 
steps replace a tall ladder that formerly admitted 
us to 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 73, 

MARTHA'S VINEYARD. 

Now we ascend these steps, and follow the 
passage leading gradually upward till we reach 
a large vine firmly adherent to the wall, extend- 
ing from the base to the top, where it supports 
a dense mass of foliage and clusters of grapes 
of wonderful size, " their rich tint of blue and 
violet shining through the water that trickles 
over them. The plump, shining fruit, forever 
ripe and forever unplucked, clusters so thickly 
together as to hide the leaves of that subter- 
rannean vintage." After all, we are left to draw 
upon the imagination in the dim light of our 
lamps, for all this is but stone, deceptive as the 
apples of Sodom. 

WASHINGTON HALL. 

A Httle way beyond the vineyard the course 
of the grotto turns toward the left and becomes 
more level on a higher plane. Here we enter 
Washington Hall, a beautiful circular dome, 
nearly one hundred feet in diameter. The sub- 
dued color that lingers everywhere in spite of 
our lamps gives the hall an air of great antiquity. 

It is the custom of tourists to dine in this 
hall. Fragments of broken bottles sparkle in 
the dim light on every side. 

While we discuss the contents of the lunch 



74 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




l)asket — such as ham-sandwiches, cold stewed 
chicken, boiled eggs, sardines, cake, etc. — the 
guides trim and fill the lamps w^ith oil, w^hich is 
kept here in bottles until they become broken ; 
hence the numerous fragments of glass in this 
part of the cave (?) Other reasons might be 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE, 75 

assigned oy malicious persons for the presence 
of these fragments of glass. 

We do not care to linger over our feast, 
since a sense of chilliness reminds us that we 
had better resume our journey. 

We next enter into a most beautiful hall, 
known as 

CLEVELAND'S CABINET OF CRYSTALS. 

This has no reference whatever to the Chief 
Executive, nor his auxiliary officials. It was 
named in honor of the great minerologist. The 
first point of interest is the 




SNO"VrBALL CHAMBER. 

SNOWBALL CHAMBER. 

The walls and ceiUng are dotted over with 
bunches of gypsum, resembling very much the 



76 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

marks of snowballs that had just been hurled 
against the wall. 

For nearly one mile this hall is one prolonged 
series of sparkling surprises. 

THE DIAMOND GALLERY 

Simpl}^ surpasses description. The walls, ceiling 
and floor are everywhere incrusted with frost 
work, sparkling with gems of the first water. 
Ever}' movement of your lamp onl}^ multiplies 
the countless host of shining points. The eflfect 
is dazzling. The variegated and brilHant display 
surpasses anything we have yet seen. 

MARY'S BOWER 

Is fifteen feet high and forty feet in length. The 
walls and ceiling are covered with white rosettes 
and trailing fringes of fibrous gypsum. 

THE CROSS. 

Two crevices overhead, intersecting each 
other at right angles. These crevices are ten 
inches deep and from six to ten feet long. Each 
crevice is lined with flowers of gpysum. 

MAMMARY CEILING. 

Nipple-shaped projections of unique pattern 
and spotless purity, hang in pendant masses over 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 77 

head, suggesting the objects after which they are 
named. 

THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER. 

This is a large soHtary rosette, ahnost perfect 
in shape and fully ten inches across. When we 
iirst saw this oulopholite, it was white as snow, 
but now it is a trifle smoked by the lamps of the 
thousands who have gazed upon it with emotions 
of unutterable delight. 

BACKUS' GLORY, 

A little alcove, lined with nodules of gypsum 
resembhng grapes. St. Ceciha's Grotto, Diamond 
Grotto and Charlotte's Grotto are all too brilliant 
and enchanting to be described. 

THE FLOWER GARDEN. 

Here is a conservatory of inorganics, stocked 
with the indigenous flora, as well as with rare 
and costly exotics. 

White roses and sunflowers, daisies and lilacs, 
the convolvula arvensis and the feathery chalices 
of the cactus, hang in bewildering profusion from 
the crevices. 

Tons of fibrous gypsum, white as wool, are 
scattered every w^here among the rocks and stowed 
away in the interstices. 

We have gazed upon this profusion of daz- 



78 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

zling brilliants and sparkling gems till the senses 
have become bewildered and our cupidity excited. 
We furtively seize one of the finest, when, so 
like the rest of us, they are soft and not what 
they seem. Finally we leave them with a ling- 
ering sense of selfish regret because we can not 
take them with us. Though they possess no 
value in themselves, they would aid us in dazzling 
and captivating the rest of mankind. 

Yon dreary pile rising in the dim distance 
is known as 

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

We climb the rock)' side till we have reached 
the summit and gaze down into the Dismal 
Hollow^ beyond. Upon the very highest point 
stands 

CLEOPATRAS' NEEDLE. 

This is a stalagmite thirty inches high and ten 
inches in diameter, a translucent alabaster pillar, 
with a depression like a bird's nest in its apex. 

In ascending to the top of this pile of rocks, 
so unceremoniously jumbled together, we have 
climbed to a great height. A vast dome extends 
far above our heads, reaching probably very near 
to the surface of the earth. In support of this 
theory we might mention the numerous signs of 
animal life, such as rat and mice tracks and 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 79 

brown colored crickets here clinging to the wall. 
Immediateh^ on our right is 

CROGHAN'S HALL. 

On the right of this hall is a deep pit, some 
fifteen to twenty feet across. This is known as the 

MAELSTROM. 

Openings to avenues may be seen down the 
sides of this pit. The place was generally 
shunned because of its forbidding and dangerous 
appearance. 

In 1859, WiUian Cortland Prentice, by the 
aid of his young friends, made a descent into 
this pit and partially explored its mysterious 
depths. 

He was lowered by means of a rope in the 
hands of trusted friends, who drew him up again 
at his bidding. 

Several accounts of this daring adventure 
were published at the time. 

It has been made the thread of a spirited 
narrative poem by the Rev. George Lansing 
Taylor, from which we append an extract further 
along in this work. 

END OF THE CAVE. 

Though this is called the end of the cave, it 
is but the end of the long journey ; or rather it 



:8o THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

is the point at which we begin to retrace our 
steps toward the entrance. We have not meas- 
ured the distance, and therefore we do not know 
how far w^e are from the entrance. 

It is generally concluded that Cleopatra's 
Needle stands nine miles from the entrance by 
the route we have traveled. 

This estimate must be very nearly correct, 
based upon the rate -of speed and the time con- 
sumed in traveling over it. 

We have now made a long journey over a 
rough and perilous road, and we are conse- 
quently somewhat fatigued. So after a little rest 
we begin to retrace our steps and pass some- 
what more rapidly backward through the vari- 
ous parts of the cave, lingering only at points of 
greatest interest. 

No amount of interest, however well sus- 
tained, can render mortals oblivious to fatigue. 
The first few miles on the return trip are passed 
over in comparative silence. The guide calls 
halt and orders rest more frequently. The lan- 
guor vanishes imperceptibly as we discuss anew 
many points of interest that we had passed too 
hastily. 

At the furthest point we reached we were 
much nearer the entrance, in direct line, than 
we will be when we shall have reached Martha's 
Vineyard, several miles on our return. From 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 8 1 

Martha's Vineyard to the entrance of the cave 
the general direction does not deviate very much 
from a straight line. 

In this nether world of darkness we are utterly 
unconscious of direction as we are of the flight 
of time or change of season. Whether it be 
day or night, summer or winter, it is all the 
same to us, so long as we are beyond the reach 
of sunlight or change of temperature. 

While the outer air contains four parts car- 
bonic dioxyde in ten thousand, the air of the 
cave contains only about two parts, and the most 
delicate reagents have failed to detect the pres- 
ence of ozone. 

Thus we have the most favorable conditions 
for prolonged physical eftbrt with the least 
amount of fatigue. Two hours' shopping will 
produce more soreness and fatigue than four 
hours' journeying in the cave. We beHeve, too, 
that the quiet of the cave exerts a powerful influ- 
ence in the conservation of force. 

It is the testimony of hundreds who have 
made the long journey, with but Httle incon- 
venience, though in not very robust health, that 
half the distance traveled in open air has pro- 
duced more fatigue and even prostration. 

Be this as it may, we are abundantly satis- 
fied with the result of our most careful observa- 
tions, repeatedly made, that the purity of the air 



82 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

and the uniformity of temperature afford the 
most favorable conditions for prolonged physical 
exertion. 

We have now retraced Cleveland's Cabinet^ 
the Pass of El Ghor and Silliman's Avenue. 
While we are surveying again the wild dimen- 
sions of Cascade Hall, we inspect closely a little 
pool of limpid water separated from Echo River 
by a temporary bridge rudely constructed of 
stone. Here we observe a number of eyeless 
fish about three inches long. As to color, they 
are either an olive brown or transparent. They 
rest on the bottom till disturbed by the move- 
ment of the water, to which they are very 
responsive. Whether they take cognizance of 
sound any more than light will most probably 
be decided in the negative. It is very evident 
that the sense of touch, upon which they main- 
ly rely for safety, has become exceedingly 
acute in these low forms of life. Though we 
might talk and hold our lamps near the water, 
they would dart away only when anything was 
thrust into the water. For want of a net we 
did not succeed in catching any eyeless fish or 
eyeless crabs. 

The naturalist has acquainted us with the very 
singular fact that these blind fish are viviporous, 
while other fish generally and the eyeless crabs 
are oviporous. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 83 

THE RETURN TRIP ON ECHO RIVER. 

We now step into the boat again, and avail 
ourselves of this opportunity for taking a good 
rest. The guide thrusts his paddle into the 
water and we move off slowly beneath the high 
ceiling spanning this mysterious river. 

Again we attempt to study sound, and dis- 
cover that this cave has a dominant pitch of its 
own, with which it is in sympathy whenever 
that pitch is struck ; then the very air is full of 
music of which we can give no analysis. We 
try shouting, singing, pounding and splashing in 
the water ; every impact is followed by its count- 
less blendings ©f reverberation. The chorus and 
the octave produce prolonged swells of harmony 
that captivate the soul. This noisy demonstra- 
tion is generally kept up till we approach the 
arch, beneath which we pass by stooping. We 
suddenly appear in the capacious hall with ceil- 
ing high over our heads. Here we step ashore 
and secure the boat for the next party, and com- 
plete the remainder of the journey on foot. We 
take up the Hne of march over the Great Walk, 
over the Natural Bridge, through River Hall, 
and, in order to shorten the journey and cheat 
Fat Man's Misery, we pass to the right of the 
Bacon Chamber, ascend into 



84 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 




THE CORKSCREW. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 85 

THE CORKSCREW, 

And return to consciousness high up in the Ken- 
tucky cliffs, not far from the Rotunda. We are 
now so completely recuperated physically that 
we almost wish we had returned by the longer 
way of 

FAT MAN'S MISERY. 

After taking another look at the magnificent 
Rotunda, we press out through the Narrows, 
pass through the gate and stand in daylight again. 

If the day be warm or sultry, we will linger 
in the cool air that blows out of the mouth of 
the cave, or ascend the long flight of steps very 
slowly till we become accustomed to the new 
conditions of environment into which we have 
entered. 

Above all, the walk up the hill to the hotel 
should be accomplished very leisurely. Sound 
sleep and complete restoration of physical force 
are pretty sure to follow. 

If the visitor could be persuaded to remain 
here, in this most healthful place for a whole 
week, he would find plenty of objects of very 
great interest to visit that would amply repay 
him. Then after sleeping soundly and thinking 
profoundly for several days over what he had 
seen, he should take just one more trip into the 



86 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

cave and revisit the points with which he was 
most profoundly impressed. 

When all the fairy visions of a half-realized 
fact, like a fit of intoxication, have disappeared, 
when the novelty of enchanting romance has 
had time to appear in the role of a commonplace 
affair, then w^e can stand unbiased, face to face, 
with a cold natural fact, and philosophize delib- 
erately upon cause and effect, and account for 
the phenomenon on scientific principles. 

We have now accompanied 3'ou with much 
care over the Short Journey and also over the 
Long Journey. We have traveled with you, in 
the aggregate, through the mysterious recesses 
of this nether world not less than twenty-five 
miles. Vast as this distance may seem, it is less 
than one-tenth part of the entire extent of the 
Mammoth Cave, as knowm to the guides and to 
others who have made the cave a study. 

Thanking you, dear reader, for your kind 
attention, we will here dismiss you at the end of 
the Long Journey. 

DISCOVERY AND OWNERSHIP. 

Though the Mammoth Cave was first dis- 
covered and partially explored by white settlers 
w^ithin the memory of men now living, strange 
to say the testimony as to the date of discovery 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 87 

is vague and conflicting. Some writers put it 
as early as 1802, and others as late as 1809. 

Most probably it was discovered by white 
men sometime within the first decade of the 
present century. 

In a letter addressed to W. Stump Forwood, 
M. D., Philadelphia, dated Glasgow, Kentucky, 
February 9, 1868, Mr. Frank Gorin, a former 
proprietor of the cave, says : '■' It was discovered 
in the year 1809, by a man named Houchins, by 
running a bear into it." This testimony is per- 
haps the most direct and reliable of all we have 
seen on the subject. 

No question hinges on priority of discovery. 

Its importance and extent were not known 
for some years after its discovery, as the records 
show that a man named McLean bought the 
cave and two hundred acres of land for $40. 
This is nothing very strange, since the records 
show, also, that one Peter Minuit once bought 
the island of Manhattan, on which the City of 
New York now stands, for $24. 

After changing bands several times, the Mam- 
moth Cave and its accumulated territory of nearly 
2,000 acres fell into the hands of Dr. William 
Croghan. 

The doctor, being unmarried, left no heirs 
to inherit his estate. He died in 1845, havino^ 
directed by will that the estate should be man- 



88 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

aged by trustees for the benefit of his eleven 
nephews and nieces, seven of whom yet survive. 

Its slowness in becoming a prominent place 
of resort, and the preservation of the ancient 
landmarks around the cave, are largely owing to 
its joint ownership by the legatees of the child- 
less doctor. 

When the last beneficiary shall have died^ 
the property will probably be sold by a decree 
of court. A dififerent regime may then be inau- 
gurated here. For one, we would be very sorry 
to see this long row of buildings with its six 
hundred feet of wide, covered veranda removed, 
though a palatial modern edifice of six hundred 
rooms were to take its place. 

Visitors to the cave come from all parts of 
all countries. They may be numbered by thou- 
sands annually. 

Shortly after the publication, in 1869, of our 
first book, descriptive of this great wonder, a 
party of four hundred visitors arrived at the 
cave in one day. 

On the 4th of July, a year or two later, a 
party of five hundred and sixty persons visited 
the cave. All these guests were hospitably en- 
tertained and amply served during their visit to 
this interesting and most delightful place. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 89 

GEOLOGY 

Of the Cavernous Regions of Kentucky and 
Adjoining States. 

The question will doubtless arise in the mind 
of some visitor to the cave, " what geological age 
of the world has made it possible for such im- 
mense caverns to exist within its formation ? " 
Since this formation is evidently comparatively 
recent, we may find its place by exclusion. 

It can not be the Lower Silurian era, for the 
Trenton Limestone of that era is not capped by 
eighty feet of sandstone, as is the formation in 
which the Mammoth Cave exists. It can not be 
in the Hudson River or Cincinnati group of the 
Lower Silurian, for the limestone of that group 
is not sufficiently soluble, if even it were con- 
tinuous in formation, which it is not. 

No period of the Upper Silurian era contains 
the necessary conditions for such extensive ero- 
sions, so we see that it belongs to neither the 
Lower nor the Upper Silurian era, but to some 
later formation. 

The Devonian era is equally destitute of all 
the necessary conditions for the formation and 
existence of a cave of such magnificent propor- 
tions. We must seek higher and later. 

In the Subcarboniferous period of the Carbon- 
iferous age, we find the montain limestone^ 



go THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

which underlies Southern Kentucky and several 
adjoining States, such as Indiana, Missouri, Ten- 
nessee and probably several others. 

The Subcarboniferous limestone of the Car- 
boniferous era of the Paleozoic time, is the geo- 
logical formation in which the Mammoth Cave 
of Kentucky, and probably most of the other 
important caves of the world, exist. 

Mr. Shaler, the State Geologist, is responsible 
for the statement that 100,000 miles of open 
caverns exist beneath the surface of the subcar- 
boniferous limestone in Kentucky. 

At least 8,000 square miles of this cavernous 
limestone underlies the southern part of the State. 
This cavernous limestone varies in thickness from 
ten to 400 feet, in which might be fashioned the 
loftiest dome yet discovered in Mammoth Cave. 

No trace of dynamic disturbance is found in 
these rocks. Every traveler must have noticed 
the absence of running streams of water, and 
the great number of depressions or sinks in the 
surface of the earth all through Southern and 
Central Kentucky. In some places these num- 
ber one hundred to the square mile. Some are 
iilways dry, while others are perpetual pools of 
standing water. 

The fact is, the water has eroded this soluble 
limestone and found channels far beneath the 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



91 



surface of the earth. It has estabHshed a system 
of underground drainage. 

The soldiers of the late war will remember 
the enormous springs of fresh, drinkable w^ater 
around which they camped in Southern fields^ 
These are the outlets of great bodies of water 
that flow through subterrannean rivers in this 
subcarboniferous limestone. 

There are about five hundred caves, large and 
small, known to exist in Edmonson County, Ky. 

The writer has visited, in addition to the 
Mammoth Cave, Dixon's Cave, Horse Cave, In- 
dian Cave, White's Cave, Proctor's Cave and 
Diamond Cave. All these are evidently branches 
of the same series, formed in the same way, in 
the same substrata of carboniferous limestone, 
the undermost and oldest period of the Carbon- 
iferous era of the Paleozoic time. 

The discoveries made during the last forty 
years of the extension of avenues, warrant us in 
saying that the possible discoveries yet to be 
made, may surpass in beauty and magnificence 
all that has yet been seen of what is considered 
the most extensive and majestic cave in the 
whole world. 

HOW THE CAVE WAS FORMED. 

It may be supposed that the rock in which 
the cave is formed is soft and friable. This is 



92 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

not the case. This rock, being a very pure bi- 
carbonate of calcium, is exceedingly hard and 
very solid, with a specific gravity of 2.735. 
When freshly broken it is of a whitish gray, or 
stone color, smooth and firm, with numerous 
glass-like crystals in it. 

Thus far we have not observed in it any trace 
of petrified animal substances. 

Traces of iron are found in the deeper por- 
tions of the cave. The iron resists the solvent 
action of water, and hence the peculiar cornice- 
shaped forms in River Hall and some other 
portions, especially the honeycombs of the Laby- 
rinth. 

The agencies that formed the cave are both 
chemical and mechanical. 

Fresh rain water running over this lime- 
stone will dissolve it, take it up in solution and 
carry it away. The process of solution sets free 
a portion of carbonic dioxyde ; this acidulates 
the water and thus enables it to perpetually re- 
produce the conditions on which erosion depends. 
The running of the water is the mechanical part 
of the process, by which the chemical agent is 
continuously produced. Thus the work goes 
perpetually and automatically on. 

MISCELLANEA. 

Nearly all the numerous ramifications of this 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 93 

great network of a cave lie to the south and 
and east of the entrance. 

Another point worthy of notice is that there 
is but one known entrance to this entire series 
of caverns. Though no other opening is known, 
it must not be inferred that no such thing exists. 
The ventilation of the entire cave is most perfect 
and thorough throughout its entire extent, a 
matter of the utmost importance to the safety 
and comfort of the visitor. 

In passing through the Gothic Arcade, the 
rumbling of a train of cars passing overhead 
serves to locate that particular part of the cave, 
as the new railroad from Glasgow Junction to 
the cave passes over it. 

There are many points of special interest 
not shown to visitors, because of the danger 
and impracticability of the way leading to them. 
Of some of these we would speak in a general 
way, giving our own views and also the views 
of others who have visited them before we did. 

AUDUBON'S AVENUE. 

When we have reached the Rotunda we 
may, instead of keeping forward in the Main 
Cave, enter an obscure little path, now dropped 
out of the fashion altogether. One part of this 
path possesses unusual attractions for the natur- 
alist. Countless thousands of bats have taken 



94 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



possession of an enlarged cavern, wherefore it 
is known as 

THE GREAT BAT CHAMBER. 

Here swarms of these chyroptera cling head 
downward to the walls and ceiling in bunches 
of many bushels. Notwithstanding they are 
mammals, they impart a sensation of cold to 
the touch, and may even inflict a severe wound, 
followed by acute pain, as the writer can testi- 
fy, in spite of their semi-torpid condition. 

What they feed upon is not so easily settled. 
Some of them must remain here many months 
without going out of the cave, as but few of 
them are seen outside at the same time. 

It was formerly believed that they spent only 
the winter here ; but we have never visited their 
apartment at any season without finding great 
numbers of them. We will find plenty of them 
in the Rotunda for any experiment we may wish 
to make. The proper way to take hold of one 
of them is to seize the fur and skin just behind 
the ears, between the thumb and finger. Its 
black, velvety coat is finer than an}^ seal of St. 
Paul's Island. Its perfect color will set at defi- 
ance the chemistry of London or Paris. 

You may now inspect it closely at will. Blow 
into its face, it will shrug up its shoulders, move 
its wings lazily and perhaps utter a feeble cry. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 95 

Their eyes are as large as a cambric needle's 
head ; these they persistently close when brought 
near the light of your lamp. 

We carried one of them out of the cave and 
examined it by daylight. After learning what 
we wished to know, we threw it up into the air 
thinking it would fly, but it only spread its wings 
and used them as a parachute, lit gently on the 
ground, and did not exhibit vitality enough to 
appreciate its freedom. 

These bats are very small — not more than 
one inch and a half or at most two inches long, 
measuring about six or seven inches across the 
expanded wings. 

Though they are small they can inflict a 
severe wound. Repeat the blowing and the}^ 
will open the mouth, curl up the nose derisively, 
and display a perfect set of the most beautiful 
and delicate teeth, similar to a cat's, and sharp as 
a needle. 

These little animals belong to the type verte- 
brata^ class mammalia and order carnivora or 
insedivora, 

ROCKY HALL 

Is a high opening on the left, half blocked 
up with great rocks that have tumbled from 
above. Notwithstanding the roughness of this 
passage it may be followed for two miles, but it 
is doubtful it we should feel rewarded for the 



g6 ' THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

trouble should we attempt to explore it. It is 
not open to visitors. 

We will keep on in the Main Cave and de- 
scribe a few points of interest beyond the Star 
Chamber, the farthest point to which we led 
you on the Short Route. The next point to 
which we will call your attention in the Main 
Cave is the 

FLOATING CLOUD CHAMBER. 

This is a magnihcent hall a quarter of a mile 
long, corresponding with the Star Chamber in 
width and height. 

The appearance of floating clouds is pro- 
duced by the scaling oft^ of black gypsum, ex- 
posing the white surface of sulphate of calcium 
or sulphate of soda beneath. The eflect of this 
illusion is ver}^ charming. The clouds seem to 
float from the Star Chamber over the Chief 
City. Next in order we enter 

PROCTOR'S ARCADE. 

This wonderful tunnel sustains the reputation 
of the Main Cave for its astonishing features 
and the magniflcence of its exhibits. It is said 
to be one hundred feet wide, forty-five feet high 
and three-quarters of a mile long. We did not 
make any measurements here. Though in the 
dim light aflbrded by our lamps these dimen- 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 97 

sions seem quite moderate, we must not forget 
the deceptive effect of a pure atmosphere and 
the HabiHty to be mistaken. 

As to the general contour of the walls and 
ceiling there can be no doubt. The ceiling is 
smooth and even and the walls are vertical, as 
if built by a mason to a plumb-line. When this 
hall is well lighted up by numerous lights, we 
shrink into insignificance. The descriptive pow- 
ers of Seneca could not do it justice. 

KINNEY'S ARENA. 

This hall, one hundred feet in diameter, con- 
tains a curiosity concerning which there has 
been much speculation. It is a stick of wood, 
several inches thick and three or four feet lono-, 
projecting out of the ceiling, slanting downward, 
many feet above the floor. 

The first step toward a rational solution of 
the problem would be to procure a piece of the 
wood, by sawing it ofl^, if not petrified. If it 
were found to belong to the ancient family of 
conifiers then the solution of the problem would 
not be as difficult as it at first seemed. 

A tree of the non-deciduous forests of ancient 
times might easily find its way into the ocean. 
Becoming saturated, it would eventually sink to 
the bottom, where it was covered by the slowly 
forming bicarbonate of hme and hermetically 



9^ THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

sealed. When the process of erosion had 
reached the branches of this tree it uncovered 
one of them, and here it is in sight, while the 
trunk remains imbedded in the soHd rock over- 
head. 

WRIGHT'S ROTUNDA. 

This is a large hall beyond the "S" bend. 
It is said to be four hundred feet in its shortest 
diameter. This may safely be divided by two. 
The striking feature of this rotunda, beyond its 
great size, is its level ceiling and uneven floor. 

On one side the floor is ten feet, and on the 
other side it is several times ten feet lower than 
its flat ceiling. 

In the eastern part of this rotunda is 

NICHOLAS' MONUMENT, 

A column four feet in diameter, extending from 
floor to ceiling. 

This column was erected in honor of Nicho- 
las Bransford, the oldest cave guide now living, 
still to be found in the vicinity of the cave, 
where he still acts as guide, on occasions, in the 
busy season. 

THE GREAT ISLE. 

This is an immense pillar around which the 
Black Chambers extend, and beyond which this 
branch of the cave extends nearly half a mile. 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



99 



FOX AVENUE 

Is about five hundred yards long and communi- 
cates with the '' S" bend from Wrioht's Rotunda. 
Some distance beyond the rotunda the Main 
Cave sends off several avenues. That leadino- 
to the left enters the Black Chambers — so called 
because the walls and ceiling are covered with 
a crust of black gypsum. This part of the cave 
is gloomy enough to suit the man who drowned 
his dog by fastening a loaf of bread to his neck 
before heaving the dog overboard. That wretch 
should be banished to the Black Chambers for 
the remark he made in extenuation of his act, 
viz : ''We do our own baki.ig now ! " 

Two avenues put off here. One communi- 
cates with the Fairy Grotto. This is nearly a. 
mile long and contains a fine collection of stalag- 
mites. The other leads to Solitary Cave, at the 
entrance to which there is a cascade, known as 

THE CATARACTS. 

At this point the surface w^ater enters the 
cave in the rainy season. 

THE CHIJEF CITY. 

This is, perhaps the largest portion of un- 
supported roof yet discovered. Its area has 
been estimated at several acres. It is at least 



lOO THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

two hundred leet across and forty feet high, 
without pillars to support the grand arch. The 
floor is covered with piles of rock that present 
the apfjearance of the ruins of an ancient city. 
A short distance beyond is 

ST. CATHARINE'S CITY. 

Here the Sims' Pit branch puts ofl' to the 
right and leads back toward the Cataract, while 
the Blue Springs branch puts oft' to the lelt. 
The Main Cave leads forward to a point near 
Martha's Vineyard, on the Long Route. It has 
not been explored to any great extent beyond 
this point, so we are obliged to retrace our steps 
to other parts of the cave. 

From the Bacon Chamber there is a low, 
obscure passage leading oft' to the southwest, 
and terminating in 

THE MAMMOTH DOME. 

This dome is the largest, grandest and most 
perfect of the whole series. It is not far from 
the Great Bat Chamber. It is said to be more 
than two hundred feet high. It is viewed from 
a terrace forty feet from the bottom. It resem- 
bles Gorin's Dome, but is many times larger. 

THE EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. 
A portion of the Mammoth Dome is known 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



lOI 




THE EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. 



I02 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

as the Egyptian Temple, which, too grand for 
description, must be seen to be appreciated. 

WELCOME AVENUE. 

A new passage has been discovered since 
our first visit to the cave. This leads from 
Blacksnake Avenue to Silliman's Avenue. By 
this avenue, if it could be made passable, a long 
distance could be saved in returning from Cro- 
ghan's Hall. The Rivers and Fat Man's Mis- 
ery might thus be avoided on the return trip. 
Being dangerous and impassable it is never 
shown to visitors. 

SOLITARY CHAMBERS. 

These lie up not lar from the Chief City. 
They contain nothing of special importance and 
are never shown to visitors. 

MARION'S AVENUE 

Leads off to the right from Cleveland's Cabinet, 
and extends to Portia's Parterre, Paradise and 
Zoe's Grotto, not far from the Chief City. All 
these parts of the cave are rich in fibrous gyp- 
sum and sparkling gems of soft crystals that 
show to the best advantage when beyond our 
reach „ 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. IO3 

STEPHENSON'S AVENUE 
Puts off from Cascade Hall southward and passes 
under our path, terminating at a point not far 
from the Rocky Mountains. This is rough and 
uninviting and is not shown to visitors. 

SANDSTONE MOUNTAINS 
May be found opposite Croghan's Hall, near 
the remote end of the Long Route. 

Most probably the cave here reaches near to 
the surface of the earth, as a portion of stone 
has tumbled down to form the pile of rubbish, 
on top of which is found sandstone. 

FRANKLIN AVENUE. 
This is a remote extension of the cave ter- 
minating in Serena's Arbor, not far from Echo 
River, though more than five miles must be 
traversed beyond Echo River before reaching it. 

SERENA'S ARBOR 

Is a beautiful cavern, twenty feet in diameter 
and forty feet high. The walls and ceilings 
are highly ornamented with crystals and opaque 
stalactites. These, being sonorous, give out a 
musical tone when struck by the hand. This is 
called the "Music of the Cave " The fiend who 
first called this dolefiil " Hark ! from the Tombs " 
music must have been very bilious. 



I04 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 



At this very remote point we are less than 
two miles from the mouth of the cave, but we 
have traveled more than nine miles from the 
entrance in order to reach it, and we must,, 
consequently, travel more than nine miles to get 
back to daylight again. 

While we are here, and before returning, we 
will take another view of Croghan's Hall, in 
which we find the Maelstrom. 

In this rough, irregular pit, of unknown ex- 
tent, we can see the entrances of various galler- 
ies, leading off in different directions at different 
depths, showing distinctly that the whole of this 
subcarboniferous limestone may be honeycombed 
to its entire depth of four hundred feet or more,, 
with caverns at different elevations, down to the 
level of Green River, with which the waters of 
the cave communicate. 

This was partially demonstrated by the de- 
scent of William Cortland Prentice, as described 
by Rev. George Lansing Taylor, in the poem 
entitled 

THE MAELSTROM. 

"Down! down! down! 
Into the darkness dismal ; 
Alone ! alone ! alone ! 
Into the gulf abysmal, 
On a single strand of rope ; 
Strong in purpose and in hope ; 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. I05 

Lighted by one gleaming lamp, 
Half extinguished by the damp. 
Swinging o'er the pit of doom, 
Into the awful stillness, 
And the sepulchral chillness, 
Lower him into the Maelstrom's deeps, 
Where nature her locked-up 
Mysteries keeps. 
Lower him carefully, 
Lower him prayerfully, 
Lower and lower and lower. 
Where mortal hath never been before ; 
Till he shall tell us, till he shall show 
The truth of the tales of long ago, 
And find by the light that the lamp shall throw, 
If this be the entrance to hell or no ! " 

In descending the adventurer encounters a 
"waterfall or cascade, which is thus fantastically 
described : 

' ' But, behold ! from rocky wall. 
Circling round the shaft below, 
Spouts a crystal waterfall ; 
All its coarseness. 
All its hoarseness, 
When he sees how fair their source is, 
Vanish, till, by aid of vision, 
Sounds infernal grow elysian. 
Now he swings near the side 
Of the weird and wondrous tide, 
Where its Hmpid billows slide, 



Io6 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

And its sheets, descending, glide. 
Veiled in whiteness, like a bride ; 
Glistening where his lamp is beaming. 
Sparkling, flashing, glittering, gleaming, 
Like a shower of diamonds streaming 
From the lap of nature, dreaming ; 
Streaming downward, passing quickly, 
Sprinkling now upon him thickly, 
From the fissure far above him, 
As if all the Naiads love him, 
With so rich a love and tender. 
That they shower baptismal splendor, 
Floods of jewels for his visit. 
Is't a flood of gems? Or is it 
That their kisses almost drown him ? " 

Enchanted by the weird beauty of these 
fearful depths, the young hero still demands to 
be lowered : 

** Into the dark profound, 
/ deep that near did plummet sound ; 
Still he descends, 
And anxiously bends. 
Gazing down in darkness that never ends, 
Whose dimness. 
And grimness, 
And darkness, 
And starkness. 
And deepness, 
And steepness. 
And deadness. 
And dreadness, 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

More fitful are made by his lamps sickly redness 
Till, checked by sudden shock, 
He stands on solid rock, 
Ninety and a hundred feet 
From the friends who hold that cable ; 
Will they lift it, are they able, 

Face to face once more to greet?" 

* ;lc >}c :^ >ii ;ic ;}c J}: 

" He enters a hall, 
A hugh nich in the wall, 

Where echoes unnumbered respond to his call, 
From a roof that impends 
Where a gallery extends, 

Till, bounded by distance, in darkness it ends." 

' Now along its spacious flooring. 

Eager, pleased, he roams exploring ; 
O'er obstructions, through wide chambers, 
Onward still he wends and clambers ; 

Stalagmitic cones and masses 

Glitter everywhere he passes — . » 

Glitter through the gloom like glasses ; 

Shapes of beauty forming slowly. 

Arches, shrines and altars holy ; 

Groups of columns polyhedral. 

Like some rich, antique cathedral ; 

Nature's grand and gloomy glory. 

Fairer than the fanes of story. 
Thus he wanders. 
Roams and ponders, 

Through this gallery of wonders, 

Till, a rocky barrier rising 



107 



Io8 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

To an altitude surprising, 
All across the chamber closes, 
And effectually opposes 
All his efforts to get o'er it. 
And he stands repulsed before it ; 
Yet he sees the cave extending 
Onward till in distance blending 
With the darkness, as if Nature 
Were resolved to hold some feature 
Hidden still from mortal creature." 

These skipping verses are thus vigorously 
closed, with, as might be expected, a promise of 
future greatness and glory for the hero of this 
daring adventure : 

" Down in that depth where no other has trod, 
Where writing was none, save the writing of God, 
Was graven a name 
By the glimmering flame 
That shall live on the record of fame." 

William Cortland Prentice, son of the famous 
paragrapher and journalist George D. Prentice^ 
of Louisville, Kentucky, the hero of these verses, 
espoused the Southern cause and was killed in 
an attack on the town of Augusta, Kentucky, in 
1862. 

In strolling around the cave last October, one 
morning early, we discovered, in a field, the 
workshop of the aborigines, where they manu- 



THE MAMMO^^H CAVE. IO9 

factured spearheads and darts of flint, or non- 
crystallized quartz. 

Numerous chips of flint were scattered all 
around. Among these were broken and unfin- 
ished darts, showing unmistakable signs of human 
ao-ency in their forms of construction. Unbroken 
lumps of flint were also found from which chips 
had been broken off*. 

Whether these were made by Mound Build- 
ers or by a still earlier race will probably never 
be definitely determined. 

That flint darts were manufactured at the 
place above referred to will not admit of a doubt. 
The finding of stone darts is not an uncommon 
thing, but to find such quantities of chips min- 
gled with broken and partly finished darts is 
of more rare occurrence. I call attention to this 
fact, hoping that it may at least be of interest to 
archaeologists, if not to the general tourist. 

In closing: this volume we introduce the fol- 
lowing poem, by George D. Prentice, entitled 

**THE MAMMOTH CAVE." 

" Ail day, as day is reckoned on the earth, 

I've wandered in these dim and awful aisles, 

Shut from the blue and breezy dome of heaven, 

While thoughts, wild, drear and shadowy have swept 

Across my awe-struck soul, like specters o'er 

The wizard's magic glass, or thunder-clouds 

O'er the blue waters of the deep. And now 



no THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

I'll sit me down upon that broken rock 

To muse upon the strange and solemn things 

Of this mysterious realm. 

All day my steps 
Have been amid the beautiful, the wild, 
'I'he gloomy, the terrific. Crystal founts 
Almost invisible in their serene 
And pure transparency ; high pillared domes 
With stars and flowers all fretted, like the halls 
Of Oriental monarchs ; rivers dark 
And drear and voiceless as oblivion's stream 
That flows through death's dim vale of silence ; gulfs 
All fathomless, down which the loosened rock 
Plunges until its far off echoes come 
Fainter and fainter, like the dying roll 
Of thunders in the distance. Stygian pools, 
Whose agitated waters give back a sound 
Hollow and dismal, like the sullen roar 
In the volcano's depth ; these, these have left 
Their spell upon me, and their memories 
Have passed into my spirit, and are now 
Blent with my being till they seem a part 
Of my own immortality. 

God's hand 
At the creation hollowed out this vast 
Domain of darkness, where no herb nor flower 
E'er sprang amid the sands, nor dews, nor rains, 
Nor blessed sunbeams fall with freshening power ; 
Nor gentle breeze its Eden message told 
Amid the dreadful gloom. Six thousand years 
Swept o'er the earth e'er human footsteps marked 
This subterranean desert. . Centuries 



THE MAMMOTH CAVE. Ill 

Like shadows came and passed and not a sound 
Was in this realm^ save when at intervals 
In the long lapse of ages, some huge mass 
Of overhanging rock fell thundering down, 
Its echo sounding through the corridors 
A moment, and then dying in a hush 
Of silence, such as brooded o'er the earth 
When earth was chaos. The great mastodon 
The dreaded monster of the elder world, 
Passed o'er this mighty cavern, and his tread 
Bent the old forest oaks like fragile reeds 
And made earth tremble ; armies in their pride 
Perchance have met above it in their shock 
Of war, with shout and groan and clarion blast. 
And the hoarse echoes of the thunder gun ; 
The storm, the whirlwind, and the hurricane 
Have roared above it, and the bursting cloud 
Sent down its red and crashing thunderbolt ; 
Earthquakes have trampled o'er it in their wrath. 
Rocking earth's surface as the storm-wind rocks 
The old Atlantic ; yet no sound of these 
E'er came down to the everlasting depths 
Of these dark solitudes. 

How oft we gaze 
With awe or admiration on the new 
And unfamiliar, but pass coldly by 
The lovlier and the mightier ! Wonderful 
Is this world of darkness and of gloom. 
But far more wonderful yon outer world 
Lit by the glorious sun. These arches swell 
Sublime in lone and dim magnificence. 
But how sublimer God's blue canopy 



112 THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 

Beleagured with his burning cherubims, 

Keeping their watch eternal. Beautiful 

Are all the thousand snow-white gems that lie 

In these mysterious chambers, gleaming out 

Amid the melancholy gloom, and wild 

The rocky hills and cliffs and gulfs, but far 

More beautiful and wild the things that greet 

The wanderer in our world of light — the stars 

Floating on high, like islands of the blest ; 

The autumn sunsets glowing like the gate 

Of far off Paradise ; the gorgeous clouds 

On which the glories of the earth and sky 

Meet and commingle ; earth's unnumbered flowers, 

All turning up their gentle eyes to heaven ; 

The birds, with bright wings glancing to the sun, 

Filling the air with rainbow miniatures; 

The green old forest surging in the gale ; 

The everlasting mountains, on whose peaks 

The settinof sun burns like an altar flame ; 

And ocean, like a pure heart rendering back ■ 

Heaven's perfect image, or in his wild wrath 

Heaving and tossing like the stormy breast 

Of a chained giant in his agony." 



THE END. 



y. 



:-X 



3c 



iyuiiiii^^ 



/ 



iiiiiisiiiiiii^^ 



